Sharon Dunn - Thanksgiving Protector

Austin put the binoculars up to his eyes. “What have we here?”

In the fading light, she could see the glint of metal in the distance, a vehicle of some sort.

Austin had requested to work with her again. Two teams consisting of a ranger and border agent had gone out to search the desert for where Garcia might have crossed over. Colt Blackthorn and Greg Gunn had taken a section of land to the east.

She was glad she’d been paired with Austin. They were both invested in finding Garcia. They would need to see this case to the end...together. And yet she hadn’t told him about her request to be put on more monitoring work after the case closed. There hadn’t been much conversation between them at all. It hurt her feelings that they’d been on duty for a couple of hours and Austin hadn’t asked anything about Mercedes. She was struggling with her own doubts. His support would be nice.

She pulled out her binoculars. “No sign of activity.” This could be the van Garcia had used to get across.

“All the same, let’s move in slow.” Austin slipped off his horse.

The rougher terrain and the need to be quiet made horses the better option in this remote part of desert. Growing up a ranch kid had served her well in that before she’d even trained as an agent, she knew how to ride and shoot.

Mexican surveillance cameras had photographed the van with a passenger who looked like Garcia. Now it was up to them to figure out if they were on the right trail. The van was generic in appearance, favored by the cartels for that reason.

Kylie caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She whirled around but saw nothing.

“Something wrong?”

In the desert twilight, she could have just been seeing things. Still, she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that they were being watched.

Trust your instincts.

That’s what her training told her.

She dismounted. “I’m not sure.”

“I sense it too,” said Austin. “It looks quiet. But something feels like it could explode in our faces.”

They moved in slowly, stopping to watch the area around the van and in the hills that surrounded them.

Both of them dropped to the ground, scanning the landscape with vigilance. The driver’s side door was flung open. Someone had made a speedy retreat.

After several minutes of seeing no movement or potential threats, they closed in.

Austin reached for the handle on the back door of the van. Kylie held her breath. It wasn’t unusual for coyotes, men who transported Mexicans across the border for a fee, to leave people to die if they feared getting caught.

The door wasn’t locked. That was a good sign.

Kylie pulled her gun while Austin flung the door open.

She let out her breath, whispering a prayer of gratitude when there were no dead bodies, no rotting stench.

Austin crawled inside, shining his light all over. “Let’s see if we can find anything that indicates this is the van Garcia came over in.”

Vans like this were used all the time by cartels for a variety of reasons. It would be a waste of manpower for Forensics to go over it if it couldn’t be clearly and directly linked to a crime, preferably directly to Garcia. Kylie crawled in as well, lifting seat cushions and checking the glove compartment. Chances were the van was stolen, so tracking it back to the owner might be a dead end.

Again she thought she spotted a flash of light out of the corner of her eye, but when she stared through the windshield, she saw only the bushes and hills behind them. Her heart beat a little faster. She talked to calm her nerves. “So have there been any more sightings of Garcia’s sister, the one he wants dead?”

Austin pulled a panel out of the van and shone his light inside it. “Nothing new. We know Adriana got across the border. We know she’s hiding from her brother. All of that we know because of Carmen.” Austin’s voice faltered at the mention of the female ranger’s name.

Carmen Alvarez was deeply embedded in the Garcia drug cartel. After relaying the message about the date—but not the location—of Garcia’s crossing, Carmen had not been in communication with the team. Kylie knew the other rangers were worried about their fellow officer. It had been Valentina who had provided them with the place of Garcia’s crossing. Her one last courageous act.

“I’ve got drug residue in here.” Austin rubbed his fingers together. “That’s enough to take it in. Even if it doesn’t link back to Garcia, it could open something up on a different case.”

Austin jumped out of the van.

Kylie climbed out as well, remembering something she’d noticed in one of the surveillance photos. She moved toward the back bumper of the van. “The paint is scraped off here just like in the photo.”

In the dusk of evening, Austin shone his flashlight on where Kylie pointed. “Good work. I’d say this was the van Garcia used.” He clicked off his light and turned a half circle. “Let’s see if we can figure out where these guys went.”

Kylie located the tracks leading away from the van. “Three men, steady and quick in their steps. Headed northeast.” She increased her pace, still shining the light on the ground. “I wonder when they got picked up. If it was Garcia, I can’t see him suffering the indignity of walking too far.” She hurried toward the brush where some of the grass had been flattened. “Looks like they sat down to wait about here.”

She loved this part of the job, reading the tracks. At the academy, they called it cutting sign, a skill border patrol picked up from Native American tribes.

Lights flashed off to the side, unmistakable this time. Gunfire cut through the night. Kylie’s eardrums hurt from the blast coming so close to her. Austin’s arms went around her, leading her away from the brush and the direction the shot had come from.

Both of them dove to the ground and crawled commando-style toward the horses. Another shot whizzed over them close to Kylie.

Kylie’s heart raged against her rib cage. She could see the silhouette of the horses up ahead. More gunfire tore up the ground in front of her. She gasped but kept moving.

They were close enough to hear the metal bridle parts clinking as the horses, agitated by the shots, jerked their heads up and down. Kylie and Austin rose to their feet and sprinted the remaining distance.

Both of them mounted up and spurred the horses into a gallop. Off to the side, she saw the lights from someone following them on an ATV.

Another rifle shot zinged through the air. Kylie’s horse reared up. She held on, tightening the reins. More gunfire. The horse reared again and overbalanced, falling to the ground. Kylie’s leg was pinned under the weight of the animal.

The roar of the approaching ATV assaulted her ears.

She fought to free herself as the horse struggled to get back up. The horse got to its feet and galloped away, uninjured but frightened by the gunfire.

Austin helped her to stand. She was on autopilot as she rose to her feet. Her leg hurt, but she didn’t think anything was broken. An image of Mercedes’s sweet face flashed through her head. She had to stay alive for that baby.

Austin had already mounted up again. He held out his hand. “Why is he only shooting at you?”

“I’m not sure.” She stuck her foot in the stirrup and swung on behind him wrapping her arms around his waist.

There was no time to radio in. This spot was far away from everything and everyone. Backup couldn’t get out here fast enough anyway. They were on their own with an assassin nipping at their heels.

* * *

As Kylie’s arms wrapped tight around his waist, Austin could hear the ATV gaining on them. The guy was using a rifle and clearly had some sniper skills, but he’d have to stop to touch off another round. Aiming a rifle required two free hands.