Brett Battles - Every Precious Thing

“I’m going to take care of that right now. Fill it up. I’ll be right back.”

Logan got out of the El Camino and walked over to Diana’s car. Her big companion was standing by the pump, filling up their tank. He glared at Logan, making it clear he was not nearly as convinced of Logan’s good intentions as Diana was.

Being the first time Logan was able to get a good look at the man, he noticed something beyond the glare-the nose, the cheeks, the set of the man’s jaw. They were nearly identical to Diana’s.

And Sara’s, too.

Diana lowered the passenger window as Logan walked up.

“I need your Blackberry,” he said.

“I don’t think so.”

He quickly laid out his plan.

“You didn’t get rid of that thing already?” she asked, shocked.

“That would have only made her come for us sooner. This way, she won’t think anything’s up.”

She shot a glance at the street, then back at him. “She could be driving by us right now.”

“She could be, but she won’t.”

“How do you know for sure?”

“I don’t, but it wouldn’t make any sense. She knows where we are. She also knows that Dev and I know what she looks like. She won’t chance that exposure. We can use her trust in her equipment against her.”

He watched as Diana processed this, the tension in her face easing only slightly once she realized he was right. “Who are you?”

He smiled. “Can I have your phone now?”

She handed him her cell.

Back at the El Camino, he gave it to Dev. “Be careful.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Dev said, looking at Diana’s friend. “You’re the one who needs to be careful. He might be a problem.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Logan retrieved the small canvas bag he kept behind the El Camino’s bench seat, and shoved in the pistol he’d obtained the night before. By the time he walked back to the Grand Prix, the big guy was already behind the wheel. He looked back in surprise as Logan opened the rear door and climbed in.

“What are you doing?” he said.

“He’s coming with us,” Diana told him.

“Hell, no, he’s not!” He looked back at Logan. “Get out of the car!”

“We’re wasting time,” Logan replied, his eyes locked on the man. “Let’s go get your sister.”

There was a full second’s delay before both Diana and her brother realized what Logan had said.

The man gaped at him. “How did-”

“Richard,” Diana said. “Just go.”

The brother-Richard-continued to stare at Logan. “I told you we couldn’t trust this guy. He already knows too much. It’s just a trick. He’s playing us to get to her!”

“Think about it,” Diana said. “He knows where Emily is. If he’s with them, he doesn’t need Sara anymore.”

Richard still seemed less than convinced.

Diana looked at Logan, and back at her brother. “ I trust him.”

Richard narrowed his eyes and said to Logan, “You make one wrong move, and I will kill you.”

“You could try,” Logan said, staring back. “Now, are we going to just sit here? Or are we going to go help keep your sister alive?”

Something was going to happen soon. It had to. They were running out of road. According to the map, not far ahead was the town of Tusayan, and then the Grand Canyon. There was a road that traveled along the southern rim to the east that eventually ran into another highway, but Erica couldn’t imagine them going that way. South on that highway would take them back to Flagstaff. It would have been considerably easier for them to take that route originally instead of the interstate to Williams then north to the park on the state highway.

No. Wherever they were headed, they were getting close. She was sure of it.

As she was about to check the monitor again, her phone rang.

“Yes?” she said.

It was Clausen.

By the time the call was done, Erica was smiling more broadly than she had in months.

Instead of turning right and continuing in the direction they’d been headed, Richard went left out of the gas station parking lot, up one block, then left again onto a deserted side road. Within a minute, the town was behind them as they headed east.

Though the road had been paved, it was obvious that maintaining it had not been a huge priority. Mix that with the snow and summer rains and it was almost a wonder there was still any asphalt left at all.

“Where are we going?” Logan asked.

Richard glanced at him in the mirror and then refocused on the road.

As Diana opened her mouth to respond, her brother said, “Don’t.”

She looked at him, exasperated. “Richard, just drive. Let me do the thinking.”

It was clear this wasn’t the first time Richard had been similarly rebuked by Diana. He looked annoyed and uncomfortable, but he said nothing.

Diana turned to Logan. “A cabin. Belongs to a friend I knew when I used to work around here. He moved back east so he doesn’t get this way very much anymore. Impossible to tie it to me, so not a chance anyone would look for Sara there.”

Logan wasn’t sure it was impossible, but it was better than using a place Diana had lived in before.

“You still haven’t told me who these people are.”

“Does it really matter? I’ll let you talk to Sara, see that she’s all right. Then you can tell her husband to forget about her.”

“Whoa. I thought I was here to help.”

“And I never said we needed it, did I?”

He paused, glancing out the window. The day was dimming as a mass of gray clouds began to cover the sky. “You really think Alan can forget about her?”

“He has to.”

“Why? Why does he have to?”

She shook her head. “It’s better if he doesn’t know that.”

After a moment, Logan said, “I’ll know where she is.”

“No, you won’t,” Diana told him. “When we leave today, we’ll all go together. We’ll drop you in Tusayan and your friend can pick you up. Sara’s already been here long enough. Time for her to move on.”

“To where?”

She looked at him, snorted a laugh, and turned away.

Soon the road got really rough and became more dirt than blacktop. After a mile of this, they turned down another road that was no more than two well-worn tire paths.

Richard dropped their speed to a crawl, carefully navigating the dips and rises so that the bottom of the car didn’t scrape against the mound between the ruts. The road finally ended in a small clearing. It was just big enough so Richard could turn the car around and park it so that it faced the way they’d come.

Logan scanned their new surroundings. “Where’s the cabin?”

Diana pointed at the trees behind the car and climbed out. Logan removed his pistol from his bag and joined her. As Richard was coming around the back to where they were standing, he suddenly stopped, raised the gun he was holding, and pointed it at Logan.

“I told you we couldn’t trust him!”

His gaze flicked to Logan’s pistol.

“Are you kidding me?” Logan asked. “These people who are after Sara tried to kill me last night. Until this is over, I’m armed. Got it?”

Richard didn’t lower his gun. “As soon as you know where the cabin is, you’ll put a bullet in the back of our heads and then go after Sara. Plain as day, Diana. You’ve got to see that now.”

Logan couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for Richard. The guy might have been lacking a little in the smarts department, but he more than made up for it with his sense of loyalty.

Logan crouched down, set his gun on the ground, then stood and took three quick steps until the barrel of Richard’s gun was only a foot in front of his chest.