Matt Hilton: Slash and burn

'You haven't killed before?'

'No.'

'If it's any consolation, you still haven't. It was my bullet in his brain that finished him.'

'I still shot him,' Kate whispered.

'He was shooting at us. He got what he deserved.'

Kate looked across at me.

'You saved my life, Kate. Keep that in mind and things won't seem so bad.' I reached across and patted her knee. She slipped her fingers on top of mine and gave them a squeeze.

Then there was no more time for ruminating on the morals of taking a life. We'd be dead if we didn't concentrate on the task at hand.

There was indecision in the lead SUV driver's mind. It was apparent by the way he swerved from one side of the narrow trail to the other before coming to a halt. The second vehicle had to brake to avoid hitting him, and that in turn caused the pick-up to slew to one side. The men on the truck jostled to stay upright and to swing their rifles towards us. I continued on, straight as an arrow in their direction. It was the most insane game of chicken I'd ever played.

'OK, Kate, brace yourself. We're going through.'

'They're going to shoot us!'

'They'll try,' I said.

The gap between the two SUVs was marginally too narrow for the Ford to fit through undamaged, but not enough to halt us. At the last moment I down-shifted to give us more power, pressed hard on the throttle and rammed the Ford into the front end of the SUV on our right. The SUV was shunted aside, and I continued to push through without stopping. The men in that vehicle were too busy taking cover to offer any immediate problems, but those on the left were already lifting guns.

My earlier aversion to killing these men had disappeared when the man upstairs in Imogen's house had opened fire. He had killed his own colleague trying to get at me, so I had to assume that he wanted us dead. So would those in the convoy. I lifted my gun and fired almost point-blank at the driver of the vehicle on my left. The bullet took a chunk of his skull and filled the cab with brain matter. The man in the passenger seat recoiled from the spray, his gun dipping away, and I shot him too.

Then we were past the two SUVs and the pick-up truck was now on our right. Shooting them meant firing past Kate through the window on her side. Not the ideal situation; the last thing I wanted was to risk hitting Kate. But then I saw her hit the automatic window button and lift her own gun. She fired at the pick-up, her Glock discharging noise like a string of firecrackers. Her bullets didn't hit anyone, but it made those on the flat-bed leap overboard and take cover behind the truck. The driver flung himself down inside the cab as well. Then we were past them and heading down the trail toward Little Fork.

Pursuit would come, but not immediately.

I'd killed the two men in the SUV, putting that vehicle momentarily out of commission, but they still had the use of two of their vehicles. The first SUV I'd rammed was only bashed up, not out of action. The pick-up only required its passengers to climb back on board. Our best advantage at this time was to put distance between us while they turned the vehicles on the narrow trail.

Glancing in my mirrors, I saw one man at the front of the pick-up with a mobile phone in his hand. Calling up reinforcements, I assumed.

'There could be more of them ahead,' I said. 'You'd better load your gun again.'

Kate had a dazed expression on her face. Her mind was rebelling against the horror she'd found herself submerged in. Twice in so many minutes she'd discharged her weapon at living, breathing targets, and I could tell it was not something she'd been prepared for. I had to give her kudos for even having the gumption to act the way she had. Many people would never contemplate shooting another human being, and when push came to shove they wouldn't have the presence of mind to draw their weapon, let alone fire it.

'You did well back there, Kate.'

'I didn't hit anyone.' Part of her statement sounded apologetic, but underneath it there was more than a little relief.

'You kept their heads down. That's all we needed.'

'You killed two of them.'

There was a hint of challenge in her voice, as though she was asking why I hadn't simply made them drop for cover.

'I was too close to miss.' My words were non-committal and she'd have to take them whichever way her mind was working. When men are trying to kill me, I don't generally give them a second try.

Kate dropped the Glock on her lap, her face ashen. 'Those men back there weren't waiting for us.'

'No.'

'They were waiting for Imogen.'

'Looks that way.'

'They were going to kill her. There's no other reason for two armed men to be at her house. Or why there would be a group of men waiting at the bottom of the hill to cut off her escape?' Kate was shaking as she picked up the Glock and ejected the empty clip. A new emotion shone in her face. 'But that means that she's still alive, doesn't it?'

'They wouldn't be after her if they'd already killed her,' I said. But that was assuming they were there for Imogen and not some other reason. I didn't say so to Kate, choosing instead to allow her a little relief. I would think worst-case scenario until I knew otherwise.

'Why doesn't she get in contact with me then?' The tone of her voice said that the question was rhetorical. Kate was astute enough to come up with her own answer. 'She's too afraid. Whoever these men are, she's afraid that they'll hurt me if I'm involved.'

'But now you're involved she can come out of hiding? The problem is, she doesn't know that you're here. She's going to keep her head down.'

'We'll just have to find her, then.'

Kate took out another clip for the Glock and slid it in place.

'Looks like you've a proper little arsenal in there,' I said.

Kate's dark eyes dropped and she gnawed on her bottom lip again.

'You came prepared for trouble. What's really going on, Kate?'

'All I know is Imogen's missing and there are men who want to kill her.'

I shook my head. 'Kate. I'm not being judgemental. I only want to know the truth.'

'I already told you. Imogen called me four days ago. She said that she needed help but then the line went dead. I've been unable to get her to answer the phone since. It goes directly to her voicemail.'

'But you didn't go to the police,' I pointed out. 'You came looking for me, instead. Why didn't you contact the police, Kate?'

'They wouldn't have done anything,' she said. 'At most, some bored officer would've taken a drive up here. He'd have seen that the house was secure and Imogen's car was gone. He'd guess that she'd gone away for a few days and that would've been that. Case closed. I know how these things work, Joe.'

'That's assuming quite a lot.'

'It's unofficial cop protocol. Do only what you have to and let the rest go to hell.'

'Where'd you get your low impression of law enforcement from?'

Her answer took me by surprise. 'I am a police officer, Joe.'

The Grand Taurino made short shrift of the rutted road, eating up the miles between Little Fork and Great Wells Forest Park. Larry Bolan had driven this road on a number of occasions lately. He knew every twist and turn, every offshoot from the trail. He knew where the best places were to ambush anyone making their way down from the national park.

He chose a spot under a rock overhang. Here the road squeezed between two gargantuan boulders then swung round a long curve before meeting the layover where he'd parked the truck. He drew his Magnum and held it against one meaty thigh. Beside him Trent was shouting into the CB handset.

'Do you have to be so loud all the time?' Larry asked his twin.

'I do when I'm talking to these damn rednecks we're stuck with,' Trent yelled, banging the handset down in its cradle. 'The two pussies Huffman stationed at the house got themselves killed as well as Tom-Boy and Richie. That's four down and not a goddamn clue who the hell was shooting at them.'