The Hostaged Island (9 page)

Her hands up in the air, the shotgun against her back, Ann Shepard stepped off the curb. She stumbled slightly. Roger caught her arm with his good hand. The Outlaw behind him cruelly jabbed him with the barrel of an M-14 rifle, sending the curly-haired teenager sprawling in the street. Roger grimaced with pain as he fell on his rag-wrapped right arm. Blood stained the cloth. The Outlaws stood over him, their weapons pointed at him, until he stood and walked again.

The Outlaws, one in a chromed Nazi helmet, the other sporting a bandage on his face and a stubble of beard, pushed the teenager and pregnant woman across the shady street. In addition to the weapons, that the bikers pointed at Ann and Roger, they carried shotguns slung over their backs. They wore pistol belts. Bandoliers crossed their jacket's insignia of flaming skull: "Forever Outlaws."

A block behind them, several houses smoked and crackled. Outlaws stood on the sidewalk, assault rifles and shotguns ready. They could care less if the entire island ignited into flame. From time to time, they fired at a movement or shadow in the side yards. They had contingency plans for major fire. They thought they had contingency plans for everything.

As fast as the pregnant woman could walk, the Outlaws marched their prisoners the length of the block, leaving Avalon's residential area. At Crescent Street, the Outlaws prodded them down toward the Casino.

Tourists usually crowded Crescent on Sundays. Only steps from the sand, its shops and hotels viewed the boats moored in Avalon Bay. But today, the warm wind stirring the palms carried smoke and ash. Today, broken plate glass and litter from the looted shops covered the deserted street and walkways.

The Outlaws on motorcycles cruised past the bikers escorting the prisoners; they slowed. Not looking back as the Outlaws U-turned, the biker with his face bandaged shoved the pregnant woman: "The hotel!"

They herded their prisoners through the doorway. A few steps behind the bikers, the Outlaws on motorcycles jumped the curb, stepped on their kickstands and dismounted.

"It's a party!"

"Forget that. Any woman with a belly that big's only good for head."

"Take what you want," the Outlaw laughed, "and I'll take mine."

Only seconds behind their buddies, they walked into the hotel's lobby. But there was no one there. They heard feet running up the stairs.

"Hey, us too!" The Outlaws ran up the stairs after the others.

The fire door to the second floor slowly swung closed. They whipped it open and saw Outlaw jackets enter one of the rooms. Laughing, they ran after the other bikers. One of the Outlaws called out, "Second on her!" The other laughed, shouted, "First on the boy!"

Pushing open the door, they saw the curly-haired teenager, the pregnant woman, and the Outlaw in the chromed helmet all pointing weapons at them.

As the two Outlaws stumbled astounded back, a hidden hand put a Colt Lawman to the head of the second Outlaw, spraying his brains onto the hotel room's wall. The other Outlaw fell backwards over the body, tried to crawl, looked up to see the Colt and a 12-gauge muzzle pointing at his face. He rolled onto his back and put his hands up, pleaded: "I give up, you got me, please don't please don't don't..."

The Colt's flash slammed his head back. Glen Shepard dragged the messy bodies into the room and closed the door. He stripped off the dead men's jackets, no filthier for all the new gore than they were before. He threw the larger to his wife, the smaller to Roger.

"Welcome to the Outlaws."

In the ballroom's crowd of hostages, Max Stevens and Mr. Webster rehearsed Jack for his report to Horse: "What are the people doing?" Max demanded.

"They're just trying to protect the girls. They figured that if they circled up, your bikers wouldn't risk a fight with a hundred people at once."

" Did you see any guns?"

"You have guns? Wow..."

The shove sent Jack reeling. Max stepped forward and shook the teenager, then drew back his fist. "You didn't answer my question! Tell me!"

"Don't hit my boy!" Jack's father grabbed Max, trying to break his grip. Max shrugged the overweight, middle-aged man away.

"What do you think's going to happen when he goes to talk with that psychopath?" Max asked Mr. Webster. Then he shook Jack again: "Tell me what you saw."

"They don't have anything. They're just a bunch of dumb people."

Speaking gently, Max told Jack: "That's not what you want to say. Say, 'They're just a bunch of dumb people. Some of them are talking about escape, but they're too scared.' Now repeat that."

Jack repeated the line. Max released the kid, took his father aside. "If he doesn't say something like that, then they don't need a spy anymore. They caught him with a rifle. They think he shot at their gang. Your son's only alive because they need a spy. I'm sorry to abuse him, but I'm just trying to keep him alive."

Max returned his attention to Jack and resumed the rehearsal. The teenager repeated his lines time after time, almost perfectly. Finally Max glanced at his watch: "It's time, Jack. It would be better if you went to them, like a loyal agent, instead of making them find you. You should say goodbye to your father and mother now."

"Tell Mr. Stevens thank you, son," Mr. Webster prompted. "He's probably saved your life."

"Yeah," Jack said. "Thanks a whole lot."

Jack turned his back so that he could speak alone with his parents. "Any chance for an escape soon?" he asked in a whisper. "How much longer before we rush the bikers and break out?"

"I'm sure Max will tell us about that when you get back," Mr. Webster said.

"But we will break out, right? I mean, we won't be like this for days and days."

"Mr. Stevens is a godsend, Jack." Mrs. Webster ran her hands through her son's permed blond hair. "Without him, we'd have no hope at all."

"Yeah." Jack watched Max Stevens limp through the crowd, stopping to encourage the fearful, to comfort the despairing citizens of the island. "He's a real hero."

Horse stared out at Avalon Bay and the ocean beyond. He stood with Jack Webster on the balcony that encircled the Casino. The doors behind them led to the ballroom and the wide flights of stairs descending to the mezzanine, the theater, and the museum that was once the gambling salon.

After the seizure of the town, Horse had placed his heavy weapons — the Browning .50 caliber machine guns, the LAAW rockets, the mortars and the .444 Marlin sniper rifles — on this balcony. Any assault unit attempting to rescue the hostages, whether they came by sea or land, would face fire directed at them from one hundred and fifty feet above the street. And if the attackers returned the fire, they would hit the hostages.

A squad of Outlaws had secured the hill inland of the Casino. Even if rescuers took that hill, they would gain nothing. Hundreds of feet of open air separated the hill from the Casino. Unless the attackers had wings, they could only snipe at the Outlaws. The mortars would annihilate the attackers in a minute.

"...they circled up the people because your guys kept taking girls. They figured your bikers wouldn't want to fight a hundred people at once."

Horse looked to Charlie. "Sheep tactics. Next time someone wants a piece of ass, take an Uzi in there. See how brave those people are after ten or twenty get blown away. Go on, keep talking," he spat at Jack. "What about guns and knives? What do they have?"

"I didn't see anything. But I think they do. Everybody's talking about escaping. How they'd get past the guards and so on. But they haven't let me in on their plans yet. Maybe later."

"They're working on an escape, huh?"

"Everyone's talking about it."

"Who's everybody?"

"All the people in there..."

"Who's talking the most? Who's going to lead the escape?"

"I can find out."

"Get me names, boy."

Smoke obscured Avalon. The afternoon winds, sweeping down from the canyons, fanned the burning homes. Even from where Able Team watched on the Divide Road, two miles from Avalon Bay, the flames could be seen, from time to time lighting the underside of the smoke clouds or leaping up high, the tongues of flame for an instant defeating the afternoon brilliance.

Sharing the binoculars and the Mannlicher's scope, Blancanales, Gadgets and Lyons studied the burning neighborhood. Though trees and smoke allowed them only snatches of vision, they saw the Outlaws pacing the block, cruising around the block on their motorcycles. Only one group of houses burned. And it was those that the Outlaws circled.

The voices on the Outlaws' walkie-talkie, recorded by Schwarz, explained what Able Team watched: "We were standing in front of the house. It burned. They couldn't have got out."

"Hey, tell that to Zapata. While you're watching the fire, he walked into them and they blew his head off. Clean off. Had to look at his boots to figure out who he was."

"They must've got away before we burned that one house. Now they're dead, because we burned them all. The whole block's gone. Nothing but crispy critters in there now."

"Want to bet they weren't even in those houses? Bet they split long time..."

"This is Horse. Shut up! Has anyone out there seen the Monk? His patrol went to help the Chief. Has anyone seen him? Anyone heard a radio call from him?"

"This is Stonewall. I'll go out and find the Chief and the Monk and all their men. Give me the word, Horse, I'll be on..."

"No! Stonewall, everyone else — no one leaves the town. No one! Like the Chief said, the locals out there know the territory. We're not losing one more brother to those crazies. Come tonight, we're rich men. We'll be in another country living like kings! So everyone hang tight. We hold the town. Twenty million in gold, remember that."

"Forget your plan, you low-life," Lyons muttered. "Tonight you die."

Blancanales glanced at his watch, looked at the sun. "We've got four hours until dusk. We need to circle around the town, check out the Outlaws' perimeter, find their outposts and sentries..."

"These bikers are such losers," Lyons said. "If they've even got outposts around the town, I'll be surprised."

Gadgets grinned. He wore colored spectacles to diffuse the bright coastal daylight. "Surprised? Like that biker with the M-60 surprised you? We meet up with two or three of him at an outpost, Stony Man will be running want ads for another Able Team."

Lyons touched the wound across his ribs. "Ooo ah... I am self-criticized!"

"Hurt much?" Blancanales asked.

"Yeah."

"The numbing from shock is wearing off. That rib isn't broken but I'd say all the cartilage between your ribs on that side is separated. Like shatter lines in glass. But you played football — it'll feel like a blind-side elbow attack, except ten times worse. I have some painkillers."

"Forget the dope."

"Carl, you're going to hurt."

"I'll get through it. What good will I be if I'm doped up? The pain will motivate me to close down this horror show. Let's go find those outposts."

Descending the mountain's firebreaks and trails on their captured motorcycles, Lyons fell back, unable to keep up with Blancanales and Gadgets. Every bump, every lurch of the handlebars made his face go tight with pain. A few hundred yards short of the highway, Gadgets pulled behind a screen of manzanita and sage where they could not possibly be seen. He raised his hand to stop the others.

"Change in plans. If Lyons can't keep up on a motorcycle, how's he going to do it when we're running and jumping and crawling?"

"I can do it," Lyons insisted, his face tight. Despite the exertion of the motocrossing, he tried to hold his upper body motionless, taking shallow breaths.

"Lyons, you are hard core. But you're also walking wounded. What do you two say we just ride our bikes down the highway and cruise through town? Make like bikers on patrol?"

Now Lyons was smiling. "Taking a long chance, wizard."

"Like you said, they're losers. A gang of psycho losers. I think we can slip in and slip out..."

"With luck," Blancanales nodded. "But we'll need helmets. I want to cover these, too." He glanced down at the black nylon of his battle-suit's pants. He unfolded his map and pointed out the dotted line of a fire road. "This becomes a paved road a mile out of town. It comes down to that block that's burning. In all the smoke, maybe we could get what we need. Without any trouble. Maybe..." Blancanales held his silenced Beretta to chamber a round.

They followed Stage Road only a quarter mile, then turned off onto the Indian Trail service road. The heavy motorcycles were able to follow the twisting trail, powerfully, and they climbed the steep hills with gusts of noisy energy.

At the Country Club, the fire road became a paved, gently graded asphalt lane lined by rows of eucalyptus trees. Bougainvillea and oleander bloomed on the roadside.

They switched off their engines and coasted through the cool afternoon shadows. Only the whirring of their spoked wheels would betray them.

Soon, smoke obscured the sky. Only a few hundred yards farther on, homes were burning. The sound of shotgun blasts stopped them. Pulling over, Biancanales and Gadgets hotfooted it around a turn in the road, leaving Lyons with the motorcycles.

Two Outlaws braced their weapons on the bricks of a low wall, firing at a man running across a horse pasture. Despite several blasts from a shotgun and a burst from an M-16, the man continued running. Only another hundred yards remained between him and the safety of the brush-covered hillsides. The Outlaw with the M-16 dropped out the magazine, fumbled to insert another. He saw Gadgets and Biancanales approaching. He wore aviator-style sunglasses.

"We flushed a Mexican out of the stables," he grunted. "Get with it and put out some firepower. That funky little beaner ain't gonna get away."

Biancanales brought up the Beretta. "Yes he is."

As Roger Davis watched Crescent Street for Outlaws, Glen Shepard and Chris Davis wheeled the motorcycles of the recently deceased bikers into the hotel. They continued with the bikes through the hotel to the linen storage and sorting room. They hid the motorcycles under dirty towels and sheets, then went back to the lobby.

"You know how to ride one of those things?" Glen asked Chris.

"Oh, yeah. Roger has a Honda dirt-bike. You think we could just ride out to the hills? Hide out up there?"

"Only if you teach me how."

"We could get a car."

Glen called to Roger. The young man left the front door and followed Glen and his cousin up the stairs. "You two want to go into the hills until this is over?"

"Whatever you think is safe, Mr. Shepard," Roger answered.

"No, it's not what I think. It's what we think. You stay here, you're in danger. You try to make it to the hills, you're in danger. If you two got on those Harleys, you could be in the hills in two or three minutes. My wife and I, we'd have to get a car. And I don't think driving through town in a car would be smart."

"You've done great so far," Roger assured him.

"We've done great so far," Glen corrected him. "Without you two — in the attic and in that backyard — Ann and I wouldn't be around anymore. It's just that everywhere I hide, they find me."

They laughed, almost relaxed. In the hotel room, Ann sat at the window watching the street. Below, the cough and roar of motorcycles passed by, then faded as they continued along the Bay.

"Those Outlaws just then," Ann told them. "They were nervous, watching all the streets, the doorways. Like they expected to get shot at."

"They see you?" Glen asked. He went to the window and looked to the south. Three bikers had passed the ferry boat docks and were heading toward the southern end of the island.

"No, they didn't see me. They didn't even look up. They were too busy looking left and right. What do we do now?"

"You want to go to the hills? Or you want to stay here? The boys could take those motorcycles, but we'd have to chance a car."

"And that means we'd have to chance driving through the Outlaws. And that means we'd have to chance a gunfight, right? Forget it. I want to go to sleep. I mean I feel like a zombie. I don't have any iron in my blood and all night I've been chased around by psychopaths. The doctor told me to rest, to stay in bed until the baby is born. We're safe enough here. This'll all be over pretty soon..."

"And if it isn't?" Glen asked.

"If it's still going on tomorrow, if the police haven't come, then we'll talk about the hills. Now, I want to sleep. Find me a safe place to sleep and I'll be a very happy woman."

"Okay, we stay. Ann and I. What about you two?"

Chris looked to Roger. "I'll stay here if..."

"Sure," Roger said. "But what do we do if the Outlaws look for us?"

"This hotel has three floors. We're higher than most of the other places on Crescent. We could block the stairwells and jam the elevator. If they tried to burn the hotel, we could drop down on the roof of the restaurant and make a run for it."

"Sure, Glen," Ann said. "I'm going to run over the rooftops. Come up with another plan."

"Well, any Outlaw who tries to come up the stairs, we kill. If they try to burn the hotel, we shoot them. We'll be up on the roof. We'll have the advantage."

"And we've got guns just like they do," Chris added. "We won't surrender like those two old people. We could hit anything on the street. Be snipers."

Motorcycles passed on the street again. Automatically, they reached for their weapons. Shotgun in hand, Glen looked at the teenagers and saw how their hands closed around the M-14 and the autoloading shotgun.

"Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow. Everything in a leather jacket dies."

Smoke blew about them and flame-light flashed from their sunglasses. The three Outlaws low-geared through the devastated neighborhood. They saw black skeletal trees, fire-gutted cars, the ruins of homes. Other homes still smoldered, walls collapsing as the Outlaws passed.

The three-man patrol wore the Outlaw uniform: black jackets, old jeans, boots, helmets, weapons. Unlike the other Outlaws on the street, the three-man patrol all wore soft leather combat boots. None of the Outlaws splashing gasoline or watching the burning homes saw the boots. They saw only the motorcycles, the uniforms, the weapons, the skull and flame insignias.

Leaving the burning block, the patrol cruised through a neighborhood of bullet-pocked, looted homes. Turning south on Crescent Street, they continued their survey of the town, scrutinizing smashed windows of shops and hotels, the walkways strewn with new clothing, broken liquor bottles, window displays. They could see the body of a Deputy-Sheriff bobbing in the small waves under Pleasure Pier. They saw two motorcycles parked at the door to the Harbor master's office. They passed other Outlaws on motorcycles. But scanning the windows and roof lines, they saw no Outlaw sentry positions.

Two blocks south of the pier, they returned to the residential blocks. They watched the hillsides above the neighborhoods and still saw no outposts.

"Maybe they have snipers hidden up there," Lyons said.

Blancanales probed with his eyes the heavy brush that covered the hills. "Everywhere the Outlaws go, their bikes go. Up there, it's too steep for a motorcycle. The brush is too thick."

"They were smart enough to seize the island," Gadgets said. "They have to be smart enough to know about sentries and outposts."

"All we've seen are patrols," Blancanales reminded him.

"So far," Gadgets said, steering off into the street.

Passing the burning block again, they continued their circuit of the town. Coming to Crescent once more, they turned north toward the Casino, but quickly turned again onto Vieudelou Street. Vieudelou took them into a more expensive area. Higher in the hills, the homes viewed the town and Bay and the San Pedro Channel beyond. When Vieudelou ended at Stage Road, they stopped to consult the map.

"Town's wide open," Lyons commented. "Except for patrols. No wonder they've had problems with the locals. Avoid the patrols, you've got the run of the streets."

"Uh huh," Blancanales unfolded a map. "Why don't you just go walking down those streets in your blacksuit, no jacket, no motorcycle. We'll see if you draw fire."

Blancanales pointed out another dotted line on the map. "That's a firebreak and hiking trail. It passes behind the Casino. Instead of pushing our luck, how about checking out the place from a distance?"

The others nodded. They continued north on Stage Road for less than a mile and came to the trail. The fire road followed the crest of the steep hills overlooking Avalon. Beyond Avalon, the vista continued to Los Angeles, twenty-two miles distant.

Gunning their machines up the steep inclines, gearing and braking to slow their descent of the ridges, they watched for the tracks of other motorcycles. Surprisingly they saw only the knobby prints of lightweight dirt bikes. Blancanales stopped briefly to examine these tracks.

"Yesterday. Local kids."

The next peak, things were different. It was the Outlaw outpost guarding the hill above the Casino. Lyons had accelerated to climb the hill, and when he shot over the crest, he had to swerve to avoid the Harleys and Nighthawks of four Outlaws.

Sitting against their bikes, the Outlaws passed a joint. One Outlaw spoke into a walkie-talkie. Lyons hurtled past them, then hit his brakes. He slid to a stop thirty feet past the group. His body blocked their view of the Ingram in his grip. Below him, not far off, Lyons saw the Casino. Outlaws lounged in front of the white building, servicing their motorcycles and drinking. They were so close Lyons heard their voices and laughter.

"Looking for locals," Lyons shouted, hoping his voice would warn Gadgets and Blancanales. Even as he called out, Blancanales, then Gadgets leaped over the hill on their machines. Flashing the Outlaws quick glances, they slowed, but Lyons waved both of his partners past him. They roared on, and he accelerated after them.

The trail cut sharply to the south. Once down there, the Outlaws back on the peak could not see them. Close shave. Able Team had not expected that outpost: no tracks, at least not where they had looked.

"I couldn't chance wasting them," Lyons told his teammates, their bikes idling.

Gadgets pulled the captured walkie-talkie from his pocket and listened, "... up on the hill. Just now, not even a minute ago, we had a patrol swing by. I didn't recognize the three guys. Did you send anyone by this way?"

"I've got lots of patrols out. I'll call them. This is Horse. Patrol on the ridgeline behind the Casino, report. On the ridgeline behind the Casino, report..."

Gadgets offered the walkie-talkie to Blancanales, then Lyons. "That's us. Want to report to Horse?"

"We only got a minute," Lyons told Blancanales. "Look what he's got on the balcony down there. Looks like .50 calibers."

"Sentries on all the doors," Blancanales noted. "Lots of motorcycles. That's where all the Outlaws are."

Gadgets pointed. "They have LAAW rockets."

"Patrol on the ridge. This is Horse. Come in! Report! Who the fuck are you?"

"This is Jake again. They're probably our guys, but what's got me wondering is the blond one's jacket. It looked exactly like Blackie's. Black leather, those stars on the shoulders, even the chrome studs on the sleeves. Just a second, I don't hear their bikes moving about anymore. I'm going to look down the hill. Just a second..."

"This is Horse, I'm sending ten men out to check them. Blackie's long gone. They could have taken his jacket and bike. All Outlaws watch for three dudes on bikes and wearing Outlaw jackets. All Outlaws..."

"Time to move." Gadgets jammed the walkie-talkie in his pocket and engaged his motorcycle in gear. Lyons and Blancanales sped after him.

Low-gearing down the hill as fast as he dared, Lyons felt knives in his ribs at every bump. Fortunately, less than a quarter mile later, the trail would end at Vieudelou Street. But as they slowed to a walk in order to ease through a steel gate, they saw four Outlaws on Suzukis and cruising Hondas rounding the turn from Stage Road. The Outlaws blocked their escape.

"Downhill!" Blancanales shouted. "Through town. They'll never expect it. We'll sprint south, then stop and pop an ambush."

Lyons sprayed the oncoming Outlaws with his Ingram, saw two go down. The other two pulled behind parked cars for cover, their bike engines roaring. He snapped a full magazine into the Ingram, jerked back the Harley's hand throttle. The front wheel left the asphalt.

Leaning through a long curve, they hit Crescent at sixty miles an hour, sideslipped through a sharp turn, then accelerated again. The roar of their motorcycles shredded the afternoon's anxious quiet.

At the Casino, Outlaws kicked their bikes to life and flew into the pursuit. Horse stood among the crowd of Outlaws starting their motorcycles. He counted off ten men, stopped the others.

"Only ten!" He held up his hands for quiet. "This could be a trick. Everyone back to their posts! Move it!"

An Outlaw on the south end of Crest had heard the radio calls. He saw the three bikers racing toward him. He started his bike. He intercepted the three men by matching their speed. He stayed handlebar to handlebar with them for a hundred yards until the sharp curves of Lovers' Cove forced him to fall back.

He jerked a pistol from his belt. Awkwardly aiming as he tried to control his motorcycle, he fired.

Lyons heard the bullet buzz past his head. He cranked back the accelerator, watching the Harley's tachometer red line.

The Outlaw pulled on the handlebars of his bike and speeded up in pursuit of the three impostors. Pulling close again, he sighted over the barrel of the revolver. He emptied the cylinder at the riders ahead of him.

Blancanales' back tire blew out. Struggling with the bucking machine, with instinct and strength he kept it upright. He lost half an inch of sole from his combat boots. Lyons slowed fast, his bike fishtailing and the back tire smoking. He pointed his Ingram at the lone pursuer and sprayed him. At least one 9mm slug would punch into his gut, he knew it. The Outlaw doubled over, his motorcycle drifting into the guardrail. At sixty miles an hour, the bike flipped. The Outlaw was sent hurtling into the seawall below.

Retrieving his backpack and weapons from his motorcycle's saddlebags, Blancanales ran to Lyons' Harley and jumped on. The ten Outlaws rounded the curve behind them.

"No time for that ambush!" Blancanales shouted. "Hope Gadgets knows where he's going!"

Glancing back, Gadgets had seen Blancanales' bike on its side in the road and a group of pursuing Outlaws closing fast on the Harley. With the weight of Blancanales, Lyons could not outdistance the Outlaws. Gadgets noticed the steel buildings of the seaplane terminal. He pointed and turned, Lyons turning only an instant behind him.

Weaving through fences, parked cars, rows of oil drums, Able Team blitzed through the open side door of a steel building, then screeched to a stop. Fire from the Outlaws outside hammered on the sheet steel walls, tiny points of light appearing with the impact of each bullet. Tools, cans and cables flew from that front wall.

Firing wild through the door, Lyons emptied his Ingram at the Outlaws. Car windows shattered, slugs slammed metal, Outlaws dived for cover. Lyons dragged the high sliding door closed. Bullets were still punching through. He dived for the floor, groaning.

"You hit?" Gadgets called out.

"Nah, I just hurt." Rolling onto his back, Lyons surveyed the interior of the building. It was a steel prefab, twelve feet high from the concrete floor to the corrugated metal roof. It contained a workshop and a storage area. A forklift stood against the far wall. A row of 50-gallon oil drums lined another wall. Crates, tires, and seaplane pontoons crowded one end of the building. Small windows viewed the ocean on one side, the terminal on the other. The door Lyons had just closed was the only way out. Outside, a voice called to them: "Give up! We need hostages, not corpses. Give up or we'll kill you."