Си Бокс - Dark Sky

Joe thought about it. Boedecker didn’t push him.

—

Do you have a cell phone on you?” Joe asked.

“Nope. Didn’t even bring it with me.”

“Any weapons?”

“Earl made me drop my .44. I’m unarmed and defenseless. I’ve got a skinning knife and fencing pliers in my backpack, but that’s it. I don’t even have bear spray. I can’t remember the last time I was in these mountains with no way to defend myself. How’d you get to keep your gun?”

Joe kept his hand where it was. He didn’t want to reveal the truth.

“They took your weapon away, didn’t they?” the rancher asked. His eyes twinkled.

Joe let his right hand drop away from the empty holster.

“Yup.”

“You had me going there for a minute, though,” Boedecker said with a chuckle. “Of course, if I would have thought about it more, I’d remember you can’t hit a damned thing with a handgun.”

It was true.

“They were pretty thorough,” Boedecker said. “They had this thing planned out. Earl has been thinking about it for close to a year.”

Joe wondered how Thomas had known about it that long.

“Hey,” Boedecker said, “where’s Steve-2? Did they get him? Was that what all the shooting was about?”

Again, Joe didn’t respond. He recalled that Boedecker hadn’t been there when he and Price had made their run for it.

“The bodyguard made a break for it,” Joe said. “Brad wounded him with his shotgun and finished him off.”

“Jesus.”

“That created a distraction,” Joe said. “I hit Kirby and Earl with bear spray and took off.”

“So Steve-2 got away, too?”

“I reckon.”

“They want him , not us,” Boedecker said.

“What’s your point?”

“If they have him, they might not come after us for a while. If he somehow got away from them during the confusion, I wouldn’t think a guy like that would get very far.”

“Again, what’s your point?”

“I’m just saying, if you and me stick together, we might be able to get down the mountain in one piece. And if we run into Steve-2, well . . .” He let his thought trail off.

“Are you saying we should turn him over to them?” Joe asked.

Boedecker shrugged. But it meant Maybe .

“Do you really think that could happen?” Joe asked. “We’ve already got them down for two murders. Do you really think they’d let us walk even if we gave them Price?”

“Maybe, but probably not,” Boedecker said. “Earl may be inclined to make us a deal—Steve-2 for us. I know I’d make that deal, considering what the guy did to Earl. It would be a good thing for humanity in general, I’d say.”

“I didn’t do anything to that man!” Price shouted at Boedecker as he scrambled to his feet behind Joe. Joe sighed inwardly to himself. The man just couldn’t be silent.

“You had no good reason to betray me,” Price said to Boedecker. “I don’t even know you.”

Boedecker registered his surprise by stepping back a few feet. When he recovered, he said, “I might not have a good reason, but Earl sure as hell does.”

Joe, once again, was confused. There seemed to be a lot going on beneath the surface he wasn’t privy to. But he didn’t want to take the time to litigate it, not with the very real possibility that the Thomas clan could emerge through the aspen at any moment.

He had to think fast.

“You can stay with us for the time being,” Joe said to Boedecker. “We were just about to climb that north ridge and drop down into the next drainage. We thought we might be able to shake ’em.”

“Harder to track over the rocks. Smart. I’ll do my part,” Boedecker said with relief. “I know the country over there better than most. I’ve hunted it all my life.”

“I’m aware of that.”

To Price, Boedecker said, “I didn’t know you were there. I was just spitballing ideas with Joe.”

“Fuck you,” Price spat.

—

A half hour later, the trees started to thin as the granite wall punched up through the forest floor. It was marked by fissures and ledges that looked difficult to climb, but not impossible. They’d tried to step from rock to rock on their way north to avoid leaving tracks.

Boedecker announced he’d scout to the west to see if there was an easier route to the top than the one they were looking at.

When he was gone, Price turned to Joe. “Were you really thinking about giving me up?”

“Nope, although I’m not sure why.”

Price ignored the caveat. “Can we trust your friend?”

“Nope.”

Price was angry. “Then why are we bringing him along?”

“He knows the country over there, like he said,” Joe whispered. “And I’d rather know exactly where he is at all times.”

Price looked puzzled at first. Then he said, “You don’t want him hooking up with the Thomases and showing them where we went.”

Joe nodded.

“Thank you,” Price said.

“Thank me if we get out of this,” Joe said. “Until then, stick close to me. Don’t engage with Brock. Sound carries up here, so try not to talk—or argue—unless it’s important.”

“That’ll be tough for me.”

“I know.”

THIRTEEN

For the next hour, they climbed up the north ridge. Boedecker led and Price brought up the rear. Joe chose to stay in the middle to keep them apart from each other and to prevent another loud argument. And he didn’t want Boedecker behind Price on the ascent. It would be too easy, Joe thought, for Boedecker to give Price a shove and send him tumbling down the mountain when Joe wasn’t looking. Since Boedecker had already stated his willingness to sacrifice Price to the Thomases to save himself, Joe couldn’t give him the opportunity.

Much of the climb was hand over hand, grasping exposed tree roots and granite outcroppings for balance. The pitch was steeper than Joe had guessed it would be when he’d surveyed the wall from a distance. He also realized as he struggled upward that for the last third of the route the three of them would be in the open. There were very few trees above them all the way to the summit and those that clung to the wall were stunted and sparse. The three of them, he thought, would be easy pickings for a marksman. Joe was well aware of the lethal capability of ultramodern long-range rifle technology. He knew that even from the distance of the valley floor they were vulnerable.

Brock Boedecker chose the route to the top well, Joe thought. He moved steadily and knew how to avoid dead ends and side trips that might be physically less taxing than straight up, but would threaten to rimrock them or make them backtrack. It was a skill born of guiding hunters in rough terrain for years.

Boedecker looked over his shoulder at Joe from time to time to make sure he was still with him. When Boedecker shifted his gaze to Price, Joe could see the contempt in his face. He didn’t seem to really care if Price made it or not.

—

I need a break,” Price wheezed to Joe. “I can’t get air. The altitude is really getting to me.”

“I know it’s tough, but we’ve got to keep climbing,” Joe said in response. His legs hurt as well, especially the left one, where he’d been shot. The muscles in his wounded thigh were overwhelmed and he felt at times that he was more swinging his leg up behind him than using it to climb. He could feel a sheen of sweat beneath his clothing.

The sky darkened into overcast and it was getting colder the higher they went. Their breaths had turned into cloudy puffs of condensation.

“My thighs are burning,” Price said.

“Shhhh.”

Price cursed at Joe, but he chose not to stop and rest. Joe was thankful for that.