CHAPTER TEN

Niki pulled Storm to a stop in the thick forest once they were well out of view of the men and the formidable cliff. She listened to the motorbikes fire up. When the sound finally faded, she dismounted, landing on shaky legs, clinging to her stirrup for support until she was able to stand without assistance.

“You saved our lives,” she mumbled as she wiped the lather from Storm’s neck. “At least I hope you did—we’re still alive, aren’t we?”

Storm craned his neck around and nudged her arm with his nose, letting her know he was listening and they had indeed survived, for the time being.

She unsaddled the horse and rubbed her hands down the length of each leg. The horse made no indication he was in pain so she led him in slow small circles. He didn’t appear to be limping and his breathing was rapidly returning to normal, but his legs, chest and shoulders were covered with blood.

Niki pulled her rifle from the scabbard and checked the magazine¾it was full. She followed the edge of the trees, careful to remain hidden in case anyone looked down from above, until she located a small creek snaking along at the edge of the forest. She rested the rifle against a tree, knelt down and took a long drink of ice-cold water, making sure to get her fill. She then took off her boots and socks and led the big horse into the water, soaking her jeans to the knees.

The water was only about a foot deep and numbingly-cold on her bare feet. Niki let Storm drink briefly while she washed the blood off the horse as best she could and felt guilty when she stopped him from getting his fill, afraid he was still too overheated to not founder if he drank too much. It didn’t appear as if any of the cuts he had received from rock chips and tree branches were significant and she was relieved he had suffered no bullet wounds.

Leading Storm out of the water, she slid her boots back on, retrieved her gun and returned to where she had dropped the saddle. Niki stood still for several moments, listening, searching. When she was confident they hadn’t been followed she reached down for the saddle with a groan.

Even though no one at the ranch had ever barrel raced to Niki’s knowledge, a top-of-the-line, light-weight, women’s barrel racing saddle had shown up in the tack room about the time Niki got big enough to saddle her own horse and had out-grown Deuce’s childhood saddle. Bob claimed they’d always had it, but the saddle was clearly new. She suspected he had bought it just for her, but hadn’t wanted to make a big deal about the expensive gift. She had always felt a little guilty since she only used it for a couple of weeks each year, but now as she hefted the saddle onto Storm’s tall back, Niki had nothing but gratitude for all the things Bob had done for her, especially buying her the saddle.

“Sorry, old boy, but we gotta keep moving. Papa needs us,” she said as she adjusted the blankets and the saddle on the horse’s back.

Niki tightened the cinch just enough to keep the saddle from rolling, but loose enough to let Storm breathe freely. She slowly led him downstream, keeping parallel with the creek, but hidden in the trees. She was relatively sure the fork they were following merged with several others before flowing into a pretty significant channel a few miles south of the ranch.

After half an hour, Niki was fairly certain the horse had recovered more fully than she had, so she tightened the cinch and climbed back on. Niki fought the desire to urge Storm into a faster gait. She needed to find her grandfather help immediately, but if she allowed herself to be captured by plowing headlong into another bad situation or if Storm’s strength gave out, she doubted her grandfather would make it through another cold night, especially if all alone.

After an hour of riding without any sign of the men or motorbikes, Niki arrived at the place where she remembered the small creeks merging into a larger stream. The landscape finally became as familiar as her own apartment, which gave her a bit more confidence.

The stream looked like a vibrant green ribbon snaking through a slight depression between gently rolling hills. The banks were densely covered with deciduous trees, which after about thirty feet on both sides, gave way to lush grassy meadows that would soon be filled with ranch cattle returning from the high country. Niki knew if she continued to follow the stream, staying in the trees to avoid being seen, she would eventually reach the ranch.

“I hope Papa’s okay. I figured we’d be back with help by now, but instead we haven’t even located a friendly person yet.”

Storm tossed his head as if he understood. Niki doubted he did, but she felt his pace quicken with no encouragement from her and his strength gave her faith they could get her grandfather the help he needed before it was too late. All she had to do was find Deuce. He would know what to do, he always did. For once, the thought of turning everything over to the stubborn, bossy man and following orders sounded absolutely wonderful.

The area around the ranch buildings was bare and tidy. Most of the trees had been cleared decades ago to make room for the house, barns, sheep sheds, bunkhouse, hay fields, pastures and corrals. If anyone was at the ranch, they’d see her riding up the moment she left the trees hugging the creek bank. She was exhausted, but couldn’t take the chance of being seen until she checked everything out, in case whoever killed the control tower guards had also commandeered the ranch.

It suddenly dawned on her that Deuce might be in danger, or worse. She quickly tied Storm to a tree, slid her rifle out of the scabbard and made her way to the edge of the trees. All hope of quickly getting help vanished as she spied the helicopter with the maple leaf insignia sitting in the hayfield near the main ranch house. Fear for Deuce rendered her momentarily immobile as she took in the scene unfolding around her. There was no way he could be at the ranch and not in serious trouble. She could only hope that for some reason he had gone to town or into the mountains and was no where near the ranch when it was invaded.

Several men armed with automatic weapons stood near the helicopter. Another man sat on the front porch with his weapon leaning against the railing. Two men came out of the house and walked toward the helicopter. One appeared to be the pilot and the other looked much the same as the rest of the foreign soldiers milling around outside the house. She didn’t see any other men, but had to assume more roamed the ranch and could be anywhere.

The barn stood between the house and sheep sheds. Near the sheep sheds, the trailers, tractors and other vehicles lined up. She didn’t have her keys. She had left them on the peg board in the barn with the keys to all the other ranch vehicles in case anyone needed to move her SUV while she was in the mountains. In her current position, none of the vehicles would be of any use and her cell phone was locked securely inside her glove box.

Using the vehicles for cover, Niki quickly made her way to the closest sheep shed. She was thankful all the sheep were still in the mountains for the season or they would’ve made enough noise to give her away. In the darkness of the shed, Niki forced herself to breathe. She needed to find Deuce, but wasn’t sure how to go about the task. If spotted, she would fail everyone.

Niki paced the sheep shed, trying to formulate a plan. If she waited until dark, it might be easier to move around without being seen, but it was hours until the sunset and she wasn’t sure if her grandfather had that much time, if Deuce needed her now or if he was even at the ranch at all. And by the appearance of the weapons the soldiers carried at the control tower, she assumed they were probably equipped with night vision goggles or at least scopes on their rifles, which would give them the edge after dark.

She had never been very good at hide-and-seek and her medical skills were virtually nonexistent, which made her doubt the chances of a successful outcome to a day which had started out terribly and had grown progressively worse. Grandfather had clearly been in a great deal of pain when she left him and he hadn’t argued with her about going for help, which was totally out of character for the stubborn, self-reliant old man. Whatever she decided, it had to be done soon for everyone’s sake.

Peeking out the door, she saw no one and estimated the distance to the barn to be just over a hundred yards. When Niki thought back to her consistent last-place finishes in high school track in the hundred-yard dash, the distance seemed formidable. But if she could reach the barn and retrieve her car keys maybe she could call someone or drive somewhere for help. Unfortunately, her instincts warned her that the roads would probably also be under guard and not passable by a U.S. citizen, even if she could escape the ranch grounds without being detected. Ducking back into the shed, she continued to pace, her mind running through her options¾none were good.

Niki opened a small, rusted metal cabinet hanging near the door, hoping for a flashlight since she had left her headlamp with her grandfather and would be traveling back to him in the dark, but she didn’t find one. Instead, she grabbed a small old knife, pulled the blade out to check its condition and then closed it and slid the tool into her front pocket. Continuing to examine the contents of the cabinet, she looked for anything that might be of use. Her eyes lit on a box of bottle nipples used to hand-feed lambs. She had heard that placing a nipple over a gun barrel would muffle the noise like a crude silencer. She had no idea if it worked on all guns or if it worked at all, but slid one over the rifle barrel nonetheless.

The helicopter came to life. Niki took advantage of the noise to pull the bolt back on her rifle and jack a shell into the chamber and make sure the safety was off. Clutching her rifle to her chest, she peeked around the open shed doorway and gasped. The sight sent a surge of terror and panic through her like none she had ever felt before.

A heavily-armed man in uniform shoved Deuce out the back door of the barn in the direction of the shed. He stumbled into view, his hands tied behind his back. When his head came up Niki could see that his eyes were nearly swollen shut and blood ran down his face and soaked his hair and shirt.

The man kicked Deuce hard in the small of his back and shoved him to the ground. Deuce struggled to rise to his knees, swaying, but keeping his balance. The soldier slung his automatic weapon over his shoulder, backed away several paces, pulled his pistol from its holster and raised the weapon, leaving no doubt in Niki’s mind of his intentions. Deuce was about to be executed.

Niki didn’t think, she reacted on instinct. She stepped out of the shadows of the shed, raised the rifle to her shoulder, sighted in and pulled the trigger as methodically as if she had trained her whole life for that one shot. The muffled sound startled her, but as the man dropped, she knew she had hit her target, and most of the sound had been dulled by the bottle nipple and the rest drowned out by the noise of the helicopter.

Before her mind could register what she had just done, Deuce stumbled into the sheep shed, shouldering her inside, out of view. The motion would have sent Niki to the ground if she hadn’t fallen back against a feeder bunk. The collision knocked the wind out of her and she gasped for breath, staring up at the beaten and bruised man towering over her.

“Cut the rope,” he demanded.

His deep, familiar voice seared through the fog in her brain and she quickly retrieved the pocket knife she had just stowed. The blade was dull, but she sawed frantically until the rope fell to the ground.

Deuce grabbed Niki, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her hard to his chest. She was too shocked by what had happened to cry or seek comfort in his arms, so she stood stiffly in his embrace without uttering a word.

“I guess you could pull the trigger if enough was at stake,” he mumbled as he gently stroked her hair, easing her head back until he could look into her eyes.

“What?” she asked, her focus returning to the man embracing her.

Deuce stepped back and released Niki. “Is your grandfather with you? Where are the horses?”

“Papa is badly injured. I came alone for help.”

“How bad?”

“He may have broken his back. He couldn’t feel his feet. Sally threw him yesterday after being spooked by a helicopter. It’s a long story. I’ll fill you in later, but right now we need another horse and we need to get out of here. Storm is tethered in the trees out of sight, but he can’t carry us both. I’m not even sure how fast he can carry me alone. I can’t push him any harder until he gets more rest.”

Deuce gave her a confused look. The gelding was big and strong and Niki’s weight would be negligible to the muscled horse. He’d used Storm often when Niki wasn’t around and could never remember wearing him out. But after everything that had happened over the past few hours and by the look in her eyes, he had no doubt Niki’s beliefs were rooted in something very real and frightening, so he wouldn’t question her judgment.

“I’ll explain after we get out of here,” she replied, reading his confused expression. “How widespread is this? I’m assuming with that bird in the sky, there’s no way a civilian medical helicopter will fly in or an ambulance can reach anywhere near here?”

“Doubt it. I’ve seen a number of helicopters I can only assume have commandeered other ranches in the area. I tried to call Sarah Stephens and warn her to evacuate, but phone service is out. I had hoped to alert all the neighbors and call the sheriff, but we’re on our own. We can’t count on help. The soldiers are Iranian and they’re flying Canadian helicopters. Apparently Canada wasn’t enough and they’ve come after us, or more likely to make sure the U.S. can’t use its missiles scattered around here to disrupt whatever plans they have in mind, which is the only reason I can think of to explain why they would invade such an unpopulated area.”

Deuce grabbed a thin rope and a bundle of used baling twine and handed it to Niki. He quickly scanned the shed, but found nothing else he thought might come in handy.

“Traveler’s in the barn and still saddled. I had planned to ride the fences this afternoon, but then the helicopter landed. When I was forced from the barn just now, there were no more soldiers inside, so if no one heard the shot, I can probably get back in without being noticed. Go to Storm and get ready to ride. Hopefully I can make it to Traveler and sneak him out of the barn without being seen and meet you in the trees. We’ll make it back to your grandfather, do what we can for him and then figure out our next step. But if I don’t reach you in ten minutes, ride like hell and get as far away from here as possible.”

Niki nodded, but doubted she would be able to leave Deuce behind so saw no point in arguing about it now. She bundled the rope and twine under her arm and peeked out the door. No one. The helicopter still hadn’t lifted off and its continued noise would hopefully provide plenty of cover in which to flee the ranch. She crouched low and jogged to the row of vehicles. Once hidden behind a tractor she glanced back. Deuce gave her a thumbs-up, so she looked around again and dashed for the trees.

She was relieved when she reached Storm. The horse looked as if he had fully recovered from their morning of hard riding, but she feared her assessment might only be wishful thinking. Niki quickly coiled the rope and tied it to the back of her saddle, while shoving the baling twine into her saddlebags. She mounted and waited, rifle across her lap. As the minutes ticked by, she prayed for Deuce’s arrival.

The sound of the helicopter continued to dominate, drowning out the slight gurgling of the stream. She hoped Deuce could reach his horse and make it back before the chopper took off. Once the helicopter was airborne, they might be heard by the soldiers at the ranch or spotted from overhead.

From the cover of the trees Niki couldn’t see the barn, but she heard a horse rapidly approaching. She crossed Storm’s reins over his neck, flipped the safety off and raised the rifle to a ready position in case it was anyone other than Deuce. Her arms began to shake from the weight of the rifle, but she held firm and waited. Niki didn’t want to kill another man, but now knew she could if faced with no other option. She had gone too far to turn back now. She wouldn’t leave without Deuce and she refused to die before getting help for her grandfather.