Michael McGarity - Serpent Gate

The shadow appeared again as the silhouette of a man.

Automatic fire ripped through Kerney's coat. When the man stepped into view, Kerney shot him twice in the chest, checked his flank, and ran to the snow-filled arroyo that sliced into the side of the ridge. With any luck, he could belly-crawl to the top of the ridge without being seen, and swing behind his pursuers. delpino kept Carlos in front of him as they moved slowly along the ledge of the monolith, following the tracks left by Kerney and the woman. He stopped at the sound of Felix's Uzi and the two answering shots that followed. He waited for Felix to fire again. All was silent.

"Something's wrong," Delfino said. He dropped off the ledge, stepped past Carlos, and chanced a quick look around the corner. He spotted Felix's prone body near a coat wrapped around a tree. There was no sign of the gringo or the woman.

"Felix is down," Delfino said, turning the corner.

Carlos followed and stopped by a mound of snow that filled a small crevice under the ledge. Ahead, Felix sprawled on his back, not moving, the Uzi clutched in both hands.

"He's dead," Carlos said.

"We can still cut them off," Delfino replied.

"They must be up ahead. Go back the way we came, and circle around."

Delfino glanced down and saw only one set of footprints in the snow-Kerney's tracks. Where did the woman go? Before he could look to find her hiding place, Carlos shot him in the back of the head.

Smiling, Carlos picked up Delfino's Uzi, bolstered his pistol, and retreated. Now that the odds were even, he would follow Delfino's advice, backtrack around the monolith, find Kerney, and kill him. kbrney winced when he heard the pistol shot. He cursed himself for leaving Nita behind, reversed his crawl, and scanned from low to high ground as he moved down the arroyo. The sun was higher in the sky, but the monolith cast a fat shadow, and he could dearly see only the dead man by the tree, where his bullet shredded winter coat flapped in a light breeze.

As far as he knew, two more men were still in the gorge, setting up a cross fire, which would be the smart thing to do. The arroyo gave him cover only if he stayed prone and low. He wanted to get up and make a dash to Nita. He forced himself to wait. The men stalking him controlled the action. All he could hope to do was counterpunch and survive.

Cold and soaked to the skin, he burrowed into the snow and tried not to shiver. carlos workbd his way slowly and quietly through the snow until he reached the end of the monolith.

Darkness still lingered in the constricted ravine, but the sun was in his face every time he glanced up.

He took one more look at the ridgetop, and a snowball hit him in the face. He squinted into the sun, and started firing the Uzi at the moving shape above. It vanished before he could focus on it. He stepped forward to fire again and a bullet tore through his stomach and shattered his spine. He took another bullet in the chest as he fell.

Carlos hit the ground and Kerney ran in a low crouch, zigzagging past the dead man by the tree, waiting for bullets to tear into him. He made it to Nita's hiding place and found another man with the back of his skull blown open, the snow around his head icy pink.

He dropped his handgun, dug into the mound with both hands, and pulled Nita out of the crevice. She was pale, shaky on her feet, but unhurt.

"My God," she said, staring at the body. She started to cry.

"Not now," Kerney said sharply.

"Robert is out there somewhere. Find him."

She nodded and began to move. Kerney left her and went to check on Carlos.

Carlos lay on his back staring into the sun until a shadow passed over his face. He felt the Uzi being pulled from his hands. He blinked and saw Kerney leaning over him.

"You're a hard man to kill, gringo," he said.

"You're dying, Carlos."

"I was going to die today, anyway."

"Is that why you killed one of your partners?"

Kerney asked.

Carlos nodded and coughed up blood.

"Where is Nick Palazzi?"

"He fucked up, just like me. De Leon had me kill him."

"And Amanda Talley, did you do her, too?"

"I never killed such a beautiful woman before."

"Where's her body?"

"No more body. Gone."

"What about Gilbert Martinez?"

"I thought it was you, gringo. I really wanted you dead."

"You've been a busy boy, Carlos."

Carlos gurgled once and died.

"Did you kill them all yourself?" Robert asked.

Kerney wheeled to find Robert and Nita at his side. Frozen snot hung from Robert's nose. He wiped it away with a sleeve.

"No," Kerney answered.

"Did you kill one of them, Addie?" Robert's eyes were jumpy and big as saucers.

Nita stiffened as though she'd taken a body blow.

"No."

"Yes, you did," Robert said, inclining his head.

"I saw his body over there. You killed the motherfucker."

Kerney eyed the crazy grin on Robert's face.

"Do you need a ride to jail, Robert?"

Robert nodded.

"Let's go." Kerney led Nita and Robert away from Kerney drove to the highway and found a car blocking their way through the ranch road gate.

He keyed the handheld radio, made contact with the state police officer he'd left at the Shafier Hotel, reported the shootout, and requested a tow truck.

"Send a snowplow also," he added as an afterthought.

"We'll need the road cleared to the crime scene."

"And an ambulance," Nita said as she dropped Robert's boots on the floorboard.

Robert was in the back of the extended-cab. Kerney looked over his shoulder. Robert's feet were badly frostbitten.

Kerney relayed the message.

"Get me some snow," Nita said.

He got out of the truck and passed handfuls of snow to Nita, who rubbed it on Robert's bare feet. Robert howled, kicked wildly, and tried to fight his way out of the truck. Kerney popped the driver's seat forward on its tracks and pinned Robert down while Nita finished the job.

"How bad?" he asked.

Nita answered with a wary shrug.

The ambulance arrived with the state police unit.

Kerney carried Robert to the vehicle. He struggled fiercely as Kerney put him on the gurney. It took all of his strength to hold Robert while the paramedics strapped him into the restraints.

Robert screamed in protest.

The ambulance pulled away for the trip to Albuquerque just as a tow truck arrived. Kerney looked around for Nita. She was in her 4x4, behind the steering wheel.

He walked to her and she rolled down the window.

"Did you hear what Robert said to me?" she asked, without looking at Kerney. Her eyes were fixed on something-or nothing-outside the windshield.

"I may have missed it."

Nita kept looking away. Her hands gripped the steering wheel and her knuckles were white.

"He said he raped me."

"He didn't mean anything by it."

"I think he believes it."

"Gillespie left a lot of victims behind."

"Addie is going to come and live with me, at least until my trial is over," she said without emotion.

"That's good." Kerney watched the officer guide the tow truck into position behind the car.

Slowly Nita switched her attention to Kerney. Her eyes were empty.

"Do I have to stay here?"

"You can leave as soon as the way is dear," Kerney said.

"Who were those men?"

"Killers hired by a Mexican drug lord. They were after me, not you."

"Have you killed men before?"

Kerney didn't reply. The rear wheels of the car were off the ground.

The operator stopped the winch, got in the truck, and pulled the vehicle out of the way.

"It's not a good feeling, is it?" Nita added, directing the question to herself.

Kerney answered anyway.

"It never is, and never should be."

"Can I go now?" Nita asked.