CHAPTER SIXTEEN

When Niki emerged from the tent, the only person she saw was Joe. His arms were loaded with foot-long chunks of wood for the fire. His gait was a little wobbly, not from his prosthetic leg, but from being extremely bow-legged. A cigarette hung from his lips, the ashes needing to be flicked, but his arms too full to accomplish the task as he strode toward her. He dumped the wood on the ground, plucked the cigarette from his lips, tossed the butt into the fire and smiled at Niki, exposing his missing front teeth.

“Where’s Deuce and Frank?” she asked as she rubbed her eyes.

“They went to try and call Bob. They left me to guard the women and infirmed,” he chuckled.

“That doesn’t make me feel too safe,” Bernie bellowed from inside the tent. “You couldn’t hit the side of a barn at ten yards.”

“That’s why I always carry a shotgun. It’s much more forgiving for those of us who are severely aim-challenged.”

It made Niki feel good to hear her grandfather joking with Joe. She quickly went to his side and did her usual morning check. His color was nearly back to normal, he still showed no sign of a fever and when he held her hand she could feel strength coming back to his grip. Satisfied, she left the two men to talk and went to the creek to wash up and haul water for coffee and dishes.

By the time Niki finished cleaning up and made it back to the camp, Deuce and Frank had returned. They were crouched down on their heels around the tiny fire, voices low, deep in conversation. She could tell instantly the news wasn’t good. She put the coffee on and joined the men.

“Let’s have it,” she said.

“And speak up so we can all hear,” Bernie demanded. “I’m tired of being kept in the dark like a damned mushroom.”

“Bob said they’re still pinned down in D.C., but the Brits should have aircraft carriers within reach of the Atlantic Coast by nightfall and a dozen U.S. Navy ships have made it back to Hawaii and are en route to the West Coast. Some of our South American allies have begun moving north, but are several days behind the Chinese. The consensus back East is that once our allies are fully engaged we’ll be able to quickly gain control of the situation and kick the invaders out of our country. There’s no help on the way for us, though, since the concentration of Iranian soldiers here is minimal compared to what’s happening in the big cities.”

Niki wasn’t surprised. The federal government had always treated those in the rural west as disposable. Nuclear waste storage facilities and missile silos were located in areas to protect the large population densities and to hell with the unwilling participants of the sparsely populated places.

“Can’t say as I’m surprised that we’ve been left to fend for ourselves,” Niki grumbled as she grabbed the coffee pot and started filling cups. “But I guess we should feel fortunate since I imagine we’re more able to take care of ourselves than those in the cities. With supplies cut off they’re probably in a world of hurt and would kill for a fresh trout by now.”

No one responded. She saw a tense look being exchanged between Frank and Deuce, warning her that she hadn’t heard the worst of it. She stopped talking and waited for Deuce to continue.

“As you know, one of the ranchers who went with Bob is Cal Stephens. Cal’s wife, Sarah, called him and said she and their two daughters are being held hostage at their ranch and if the military doesn’t turn over a complete list of all missile silos and the location of the underground launch facility within twenty-four hours the Iranians will start killing one hostage per hour, beginning with Sarah.”

“Oh my God!” Niki gasped. “Is the government planning to cooperate?”

“No. They feel they can’t trade the locations of the remaining missiles and the launch facility, which could potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives, for three lives. In fact, Bob said our military has already deployed several of the missiles that haven’t been located and disarmed by the Iranians. One took out several Russian Destroyers positioned off Cuba. We sent another to Iran demanding their complete, unconditional and immediate withdrawal from the United States and Canada. So far no response from the Iranian government, but the U.S. will deploy another in four more hours if the withdrawal hasn’t begun. Needless to say, without our full resources at our disposal we’re a little hesitant to send missiles to Russia and China with the same demand,” Deuce replied.

“Why don’t we use the missiles to drive the CCIS out of the U.S.?” Niki asked.

“I imagine, being missiles with nuclear warheads, we won’t deploy them on our soil, except as a last resort.”

“I can’t believe this is happening. Poor Cal must be beside himself with worry,” Niki said, shaking her head.

Everyone remained silent for several seconds, letting the horrible news sink in. Niki acknowledged the government’s decision was valid, but the three lives to be lost were not just nameless faces. Sarah had been there for the Blackburn family when Deuce’s mom died and Niki had spent time with the young girls, Lacy and April, nearly every summer since the girls were born.

“How long ago was the demand issued?” Niki asked.

“About fifteen hours ago.”

“That leaves us only about nine hours to do something to help them.” She looked at her watch. “How long will it take to ride to the Stephens’ ranch from here?”

“About five or six hours and if by ‘us’ you mean Frank and I, you’re correct we need to do something. You and Joe will stay here with Bernie,” Deuce replied.

“I’ll go too,” Joe cut in.

“No offense buddy, but you can’t shoot, your cough might get us spotted and your old horse and new leg will just slow us down,” Frank replied.

“I want to argue, but dammit, you’re right. What good is a sixty-five year old man with a bum leg, a hacking cough, a sixteen-year-old horse and an aim that couldn’t be further off if he was blind?”

Frank patted his friend on the back, but said nothing else.

“When do we ride?” Niki asked.

“You don’t ride,” Deuce replied. “Frank and I will head out after lunch. If we leave here by one o’clock we should be in place before nightfall. We’ll wait until dark and then see what we can do.”

“Listen to me for a change. You can’t take extra horses with you. Leading spares will slow you down. If we’re successful, Lacy and April can ride with you and Frank. Storm is strong enough to carry two adults if they’re Sarah and I. Besides, I’m a better shot than either one of you.”

Deuce struggled to come up with a convincing argument to make her stay behind, but all her points were valid, especially the last. If her aim had been even several inches off, he’d be dead instead of the infamous Colonel.

“Bernie, talk some sense into her. She’s not coming with us,” Deuce growled as he stormed off.

Niki watched him leave, but didn’t go after him. Until he had time to think, there’d be no reasoning with him. There was nothing anyone could say to make her stay behind and she had no intention of arguing about it. She looked around at each remaining man. Frank and Joe sat sipping coffee, staring at the ground. She glanced at her grandfather, but couldn’t read his expression.

“Do you have anything to add?” she snapped.

“No, not a thing,” the old man replied while coughing in his hand to disguise the amusement in his voice.

“Fine then, as long as we’re all clear on the plan, I’m going to bring Storm in.” She left the men behind.

* * *

Deuce sat on a rock near the creek for an hour. True, he and Frank could use an extra rider and horse, but he didn’t want Niki put in danger again and Joe would be worse than nothing if stealth were called for. No doubt she was too stubborn to abide by his wishes, so his only hope was that she would listen to her grandfather.

He couldn’t hide out at the creek much longer, but he needed to have his temper under control before facing Niki. When she was young, she had always been strong-willed, but at least then she’d trusted him completely and always did as he asked. Though he knew he didn’t deserve her blind devotion after the way he had treated her for the past few years, he wanted her to stay at camp with her grandfather, so there would be one less thing for him to worry about. If all hell broke loose, which he could only assume it would, he didn’t want Niki anywhere near the soldiers. He doubted that after Colonel Nadari’s death they’d be too forgiving.

When Deuce returned to camp, he saw no sign of Frank, Joe or Niki. He poked his head in the tent and found Bernie wide awake with a worried expression on his face.

“Deuce, my boy, come here. We need to talk.”

Deuce sat down next to Bernie and listened.

“I know you don’t want Niki to go because you care about her and don’t want anything to happen to her. I don’t want her to go either, but I know my granddaughter well enough that if anything happens to Sarah or those two girls and she didn’t try to help, she’ll not only be unable to forgive herself, but she’ll be unable to forgive either of us if we force her to stay behind.”

“I’ve been a real jerk for the past five years. I wasted a lot of time wallowing in my grief and painting her in my mind as some breakable china doll, too delicate and fragile for ranching or to be part of my life. She’s proven me wrong and I don’t want to lose her now. She’s already faced more danger than anyone should ever have to.”

“You should be telling all this to her, not me, but the point is whether she stays or goes all may still be lost. There’s no guarantee either way. We don’t even know if America as we know it will survive this crisis, but if it does and we all do, she may shut you out of her life if you hold her back.”

“If Frank or I are captured we’ll be killed, but if Niki is caught it’ll probably be much worse.”

“I imagine that’s true and I’m sure she’s well aware of the risk. That’s probably why Niki’s so compelled to try and help Sarah and those girls. They’re already in that dangerous and vulnerable place we hope to heck Niki doesn’t get into.”

“Damn it, I don’t like this one bit, but you know her best.” Deuce stalked out of the tent.

“Deuce, wait. She can be an asset as long as you don’t think with your heart. She’s capable, let her pull her weight or she will be a liability.”

Deuce found Niki adjusting Storm’s blankets. He grabbed her saddle by the horn and set in on the big horse’s back with one easy movement as if the saddle weighed little more than a pillow.

Niki envied his strength and ease. At barely five-foot-four, saddling Storm was no simple task. Not only did she have to heft the saddle way over her head, but to her the thing weighed a ton even though she knew it was built to be as light as possible.

She stepped back and watched as Deuce tightened the cinch and adjusted the breast collar. He picked up the rifle Niki had leaning against a tree and checked to make sure it was fully loaded, which it was, before he slipped the gun into her scabbard.

“Got a jacket and plenty of water and supplies, since we’ll probably be stuck out overnight?”

Niki nodded. “I already filled your canteen and saddlebags too. They’re over by your saddle.”

With one quick motion, he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her into her saddle. His hand lingered on her thigh. The worry in his eyes was evident. She hated seeing the anguish etched on his face, but she had no intention of sitting back and doing nothing to change the fate of three innocent lives.

“I appreciate your concern, but I’ll be fine. I’m not made of glass, so I won’t break if I fall off. I’ve already outran those bastards once and I’ll do it again if I have too, but I won’t sit here and wring my hands like some helpless prima donna.”

Deuce traced his hand down Storm’s neck and put his lips close to the horse’s ear. “Take good care of her or you and I will have a big problem,” he whispered.

A sad smile creased Niki’s lips as she watched Deuce saddle Traveler. She wasn’t sure what had changed his mind, but it looked as if the argument about her going along was over. Though she felt compelled to do what she could for Sarah and the girls, another part of her refused to let Deuce out of her sight. She prayed she would never be put in another position like she had been back at the ranch, but if she had to pull the trigger again to save his life, she would without any hesitation.