Long Road to Mercy (Atlee Pine, #1)(99)

He pointed at the men. “I’ve watched a chopper come in the last three nights. I finally decided to do something about it. I grabbed my go pack, picked up their trail, and followed them up here. And saw what they were about to do to you.” He looked down at his gun and shook his head. “Why the hell are American soldiers down here in the first place?”

“It’s a long story.” She reached out and gripped his arm. “Thanks for saving my life.”

“Well, you saved mine. The guy had me lined up for the kill. If you hadn’t fired and spoiled his aim, I’d have had an M4 round right through me.”

She removed her hand from his arm and steadied herself against a rock outcrop.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’m getting there,” she said, taking several deep breaths.

He shot her a glance. “And what are you doing all the way out here? You’re not just hiking, that’s for sure.”

“I’m looking for the missing guy. They were, too.”

“You think he’s around here? Why?”

“Again, long story.” She looked at the bodies. “We have to do something. We can’t just leave them here.” She looked around. “But this is, well, I guess it’s a crime scene. We can’t disrupt anything.” She rubbed her forehead. “I need to call in a team. I need to secure the area. I…I need.…” Her mind was swirling with so many competing thoughts Pine thought she might puke.

Kettler drew closer to her and gripped Pine’s arm. “What you need to do is just take a few more deep breaths and give yourself a little time. You were almost killed, Atlee.”

“I just shot an Army guy, Sam!”

“Well, I just shot two of them.”

While Pine was regaining her composure, Kettler spotted the cammie blanket. He moved it aside and saw the cave opening. “Damn, where did that come from?”

“It might be what I was looking for.”

“Well, I can put the bodies in there for now.”

“I’ll help.”

“Then we can call in reinforcements.”

“No. We have to locate something else first.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”





Chapter

55



THEY CARRIED THE BODIES into the cave and set them down in a corner.

Pine checked them for any ID, but they had none. And no tags on their uniforms.

Kettler said, “Are you sure they’re regular Army?”

“I’m not sure of anything right now.”

She shone her light around. The cave was large. The ceiling she estimated was about fifteen feet high. A shade darker area near the rear might have been a passageway to another room, but she couldn’t be sure.

“Okay, you need to tell me what’s going on,” said Kettler.

In curt, information-packed sentences, she filled him in on pretty much everything. When she was done, Kettler looked like he might throw up.

He looked around. “A nuke? In here? Are you shitting me?”

“I wish I were.”

He shone his light around. “Well, it’s not in this space.”

“But it could be back there,” she said, motioning to the rear of the cave. “Hit it with your light. It’s stronger than mine.”

He did so and the opening to a passageway cut into the rock was revealed.

They entered the passage and moved along it single file, with Pine in the lead.

As they walked along, Pine stumbled over something.

Kettler aimed his light down and she heard him suck in a breath.

“Trip wire.”

Pine said in a panicked voice, “Like tied to an IED?”

“No.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because we’d already be dead.”

They moved forward and were about to step into what looked to be a larger cave when a voice called out.

“One more step and you won’t be taking another.”

“Mr. Roth?” called out Pine.

There was silence for a few moments. “Who are you?”

“Special Agent Atlee Pine with the FBI. I’m here with a park ranger named Sam Kettler. I was investigating the death of a mule and Ben Priest being missing.”

A light beam hit them in the face. “Let me see your badges.”

They slowly held up their official metal.

“Look, Mr. Roth, I can understand if you don’t trust us. Because I’m not sure I trust my own agency right now.”

“I want you to turn around and leave here. Now! Or the consequences will not be good for you.”

“Mr. Roth, we’re here to help. And I’m pretty damn sure you need help.”

“I told you to leave. Now.”

Pine glanced at Kettler and then called out, “What about the three bodies we just dragged in?”

Roth said nothing for a long moment. “Three bodies?”

“We just shot three soldiers who were looking for you. They were going to kill us, even though I showed them my FBI badge. And I’m pretty damn certain that they were going to kill you next. So we just saved your life.”

“This…this is…”