Killer Cargo

She knew they were rumbling through the foothills of the Cascades, but that was all she could be certain of. Mount Hood was the only other landmark, but the fog obscured the horizon under an impenetrable blanket.

The engine temperature gauge edged into the hot zone as they wheezed to the top of a steep grade. Maria used the wipers to clear some of the muck off the windshield. Drops of moisture made it through the bullet holes, and she wiped them away with her sleeve.

In a couple more yards she would have a good vantage point to see what lay below. There had to be a town, a gas station, something. Her excitement mounted as they crested the top. She leaned forward to get a better view of…

Nothing.

Nothing except for a vast expanse of wooded hills, a thin ribbon of dubious road and acres of spring wildflowers in a palette of pastel hues. If it hadn’t been so beautiful she would have cried. She flipped open her cell phone only to remember the battery was almost dead.

Resisting the temptation to smash her head against the steering wheel, she rolled down the window and listened, ignoring the mist that dampened her face. Maybe the men had given up. Maybe their car had died several miles back or they’d decided to return to the plane, figuring she’d head back to the airstrip.

The sound was soft but unmistakable, the faint clatter of an approaching motor. Her hands clenched the steering wheel. “This is bad, Hank. Really bad. We don’t have any choice. We’re going to have to make a break for it or we’re both going to be murdered.”

She hit the accelerator and took off down the road.

A quarter tank of gas later, they came to a turnoff. The signpost directed travelers to a series of small towns she had never heard of. One of the signs was pockmarked with bullet holes, making it practically unreadable. Her choices were few. Should she stay on the main drag or venture farther into no-man’s-land? She looked at the mucky road that led away into hills as green as cut emeralds. Gently she eased the Demon onto the turnoff.

Time ticked by in agonizing slow motion. It was pouring when the sun slowly mellowed into the horizon. Maria’s jeans were damp from the water coming in the windshield holes, her skin chilled.

“Does it ever stop raining in Oregon?” She blinked hard, trying to ward off the heavy blanket of fatigue. She longed to be back in Los Angeles, warm and completely insulated by a blanket of smog. Was it really only one day since she’d left her tiny apartment in California?

Three hours later she was…where? In backcountry Oregon during a torrential downpour, driving a car with a velvet dashboard and holes in the windshield. This whole thing had to be a bad dream, a nightmare really.

There had been no sign of the scary sedan men for the past few hours. She probably outwitted them with her “road less traveled” trick. Another bit of good fortune came when she’d found the phone charger in her backpack, the one with an adapter that fit into the cigarette lighter of Duke’s car. Hopefully she’d be able to make a phone call in a few hours as soon as she made it past the mountains, and the whole sorry nightmare would be over.

A rickety store nestled on the side of the road as they rounded a tree-lined curve. The sign read Food, Sundries and Gas. Her mood brightened. She wasn’t sure what a “sundry” was but the food part was definitely a welcome thought and she figured topping off the tank wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. Who knew how far it would be to the next gas station?

“Okay, Hank. Let’s get something to eat and some gas. Plus, I’ve got to make a phone call.”

She eased out of the car and tried to unkink her back.

The man behind the battered cash register was skinny, his bald head shone in the light of the bare fluorescent bulb. He looked up at her approach, eyeing disapprovingly the water that coursed off her jacket onto the tile floor.

“Hi,” Maria said, shaking the rain from her hair and giving him a bright smile. “Quite a storm. Looks like the worst has passed.”

He bobbed a chin at her.

“Uh, do you have a phone I could use? My cell is dead.”

He jabbed a finger at the door. “Pay phone outside.”

She fished around in her damp pocket and handed him a bill. “I’m going to need some gas. Could I get some change for the phone, too?”

“Not unless you’re buying something else.” His shaggy brows knitted as he read the newspaper.

A real gem, Maria thought. She looked at the bins of vegetables and picked a plump carrot for Hank. From the crowded store shelf she grabbed a package of chocolate doughnuts and a soda.

The surly man rang up her purchase and handed her the change.

“Thank you,” she said.

He didn’t answer.

She dashed outside to the rickety gas pump and refueled.

Another foray into the rain brought her to the phone booth. She plunked a couple of coins in the slot and waited for the operator, plotting out her approach. She’d call the police in Los Angeles and tell them the whole story and then alert the authorities in Oregon to rescue her, and her plane while they were at it. Her mind was so busy planning out the conversation that it took a few moments for her to notice the lack of dial tone.

She jerked the change lever. Nothing came out and she slammed down the receiver. “Great. I didn’t even get a dial tone before it ate my money.”

Maria decided there was no point in telling the store clerk about the problem.

She sighed and slogged back to the car, water soaking her socks over the top of her sneakers. Inside she cranked the heater and gave Hank his carrot. The rabbit immediately began to munch, his slender teeth clicking a staccato rhythm. She put her own chattering teeth to work wolfing down the chocolate doughnuts.

An odd beeping noise startled her. Her cell phone was ringing.

“Hello?” she said.

“Hello, Maria. It’s Marty.”

She was so happy to hear his voice she almost cried. “Mr. Shell. I’m so glad you called. You’ll never believe what happened.”

“I’m sorry things didn’t go as planned at the airport. Again, I apologize for my guys being late. Promptness is not a cultural norm anymore. Sad. Ah, well, it’s hard to find good help.”

“No, no. It’s not that. There was a package of drugs on my plane. I’m going to call the police and get this thing straightened out.”

There was a pause on the other end. “Oh, my. That was supposed to be a little secret.”

Her mouth dropped open. “A…secret? You…you…knew about the drugs?”

“A small sideline of mine, Maria. No need to trouble yourself about it.”

The shock that coursed through her veins began to melt away as anger took its place. “Are you out of your mind? You had no right to use my plane to smuggle drugs.”

“I hired your plane to deliver cargo.”

“Pet food, not cocaine. I never would have agreed to that.”

He chuckled. “Well, you did carry pet food, dear, plus two tiny extra packages. No need to get huffy about it.”

She gritted her teeth. “I’m way beyond huffy. I want my plane.”

“Excellent. I would be happy to reunite you with your plane as soon as you give me back my property.”

“What property?”

“The drugs that were hidden in the cargo.”

“I didn’t take the box. It’s still there.”

The sound of breathing filled the line. “Maria, you’re a good girl, an honest girl. I know you were surprised to find my extra packages, but let’s not make a big mistake here. I know you took one of them. All will be forgiven if you return it to me. I am nothing if not a fair man.”

“You are nothing if not a drug dealer.” Her mind reeled. “What does your wife think about your second job?”

“My wife?” He sounded puzzled. “What does she have to do with this? I am discussing business here. My package. It was stowed in your plane. My men tell me half of the goods are not there now.”

“I did not take your drugs. Maybe your gun-toting friends did. Did you think about that? They shot at me, you know.”

He sighed. “Yes, that was regrettable, but they have strict orders to return my property. They know what would happen to them if they crossed me. The man I hired to load the merchandise onto the plane found that out the hard way. Unfortunately, he tragically passed away.”

She swallowed. “Passed away?”

“He was run down by a car, poor man.”

The air felt suddenly colder. Maria still could not wrap her mind around the jolly beekeeper’s dark side. “Well, how do you know he doesn’t—didn’t take your property? Maybe he never hid it on my plane in the first place.”

“I had someone watching from a distance when he exited the aircraft and he carried nothing. It was a test, you see. He did well until he started talking to some folks about his new job, and he needed to be disciplined. We’ve searched his place and his car to be on the safe side.” Martin sighed gustily. “Breaking in new people is such a challenge. Running a small business is no picnic, either.”

The thought of a man being run down in the street made her shiver. “I am telling you, I don’t have it, Marty. You need to believe me. All I want is my plane.”

“I do want to believe you, sweetie. I am very fond of you. You are what I imagine my daughter would be like, if I had one.” His voice became hard. “But I want my property.”

She ignored the growing fear in her gut. “What are you going to say to the police when I tell them about your little business?”

He laughed. “You go ahead and tell them your story. They won’t find anything to connect me to illegal activity. I’m a very careful man, meticulous, one might say. You, on the other hand, are driving a car that isn’t yours and all you’ve got is plenty of debt and a nutty story. No proof of anything, my dear.”

She suppressed a whisper of panic. “I just want my plane. If I had your stuff, I would give it to you.”

“My men know your general vicinity, Maria. They know what kind of car you’re driving. It’s only a matter of time until they find you. It would be healthier for you to cooperate. Please, let’s be reasonable here. No need to sully our relationship.”

“I…” The phone suddenly died. Battery depleted.

Feeling depleted herself, she leaned a cheek against the steering wheel. “God, please help me. I’ve run away from one mess and gotten myself into another. I am the biggest chump on the planet to trust Martin Shell. I don’t know what to do or where to go. Help me.”

Maria stayed in the parking lot until the store clerk locked the door and walked to his car. He shot the Demon a suspicious look. She decided to move along before she got into any further trouble. With a sigh, she started up the car and eased onto the road.

Out of nowhere the sedan roared into sight.

She screamed and stomped on the gas but not soon enough. The car smashed into her rear fender, causing the Demon to skid wildly. She wrenched the steering wheel with all her might and managed to keep the car from careening into the ravine.

The sedan closed in again. Maria could see the two men, leaning forward, their faces intense in the weak light. She pressed the pedal to the floor. The trees and shrubs blurred into a green streak as she sped on. It was useless.

Rigid with fear, she watched the sedan overtake her. The seat belt cut into her neck as the two cars smashed together again. Bits of breaking glass showered around her. This time Maria could not control the car. The Demon skidded on the slick ground, hydroplaning in a half circle until it brought her face-to-face with her pursuers.

The driver slammed on his brakes, a look of shock on his face as his car shimmied across the slick surface.

Maria shook the glass out of her hair and clenched her jaw. “Okay, then. If you’re going to take me out, you’re coming with me.” She floored the gas pedal and sent the Demon plunging directly into the path of the sedan.

The man’s shock turned to alarm as he jockeyed the wheel to avoid a crash. Maria bore down on them, an odd feeling of exhilaration edging through the fear as she closed the gap. Five feet, three, two.

At the last second before impact the sedan pulled sharply to the side, sending the men squealing into the ravine.

Maria didn’t wait to see the damage she’d inflicted. Before the sound of the crash died away, she wheeled the Demon back again and sped off, heart jackhammering in her chest.

The road progressed from bad to worse. The paved surface gave way to gravel and then more or less to mud. With no streetlights to be found, the moon was Maria’s only guide as they bounced over the uneven ground. The borders of the narrow road were crowded with sugar pines and flowering bushes that cast eerie shadows. Something that Maria took to be a bat flittered over the path, making her heart leap into her throat. She waited for the moment when the sedan would careen out of the shrubbery and plow into her again.

Visions of Martin Shell’s cherubic face swam in her mind. She’d been so blind. And stupid. She blinked away tears.

Peering through the darkness, Maria was seized by a deep desire for sandy beaches and sunny afternoons. A place where people asked “How are you?” and honestly wanted to know the answer.

Her gut twisted when she realized she was picturing her childhood home in Southern California, specifically the small seaside town of Tidal Flats where her parents still lived. Why did she ever leave? Because she wanted a new life and to escape the pain of the old one, she reminded herself.

The car hit a bump and she half screamed. “It’s okay, Hank. We’re doing fine. I’m sure this road is going to get us to safety.” Or straight into the clutches of her would be killers. Every curve in the road was a new source of terror as she imagined them waiting to pounce.

Darkness closed around her like a velvet glove and she finally pulled up to a fork in the road. She considered her options. Behind her was the possibility of getting caught by the smugglers. Ahead of her was a set of dubious-looking dirt roads and the possibility of getting caught by smugglers. A lose-lose situation if there ever was one.

“I guess we could stay here and pray they don’t find us, wait it out until morning. Mom always says it’s darkest before the dawn.” Thinking about her mother made her heart sink. Her head sagged against the seat. The woman faced the horrors in her life with such grace, such optimism. How come Maria wasn’t able to do that? Why had she felt the need to run from what happened to her father? It was the coward’s way out, and she knew it.

“Snap out of it, Maria. This isn’t the time for reflection.” She eased the crippled car onto the bumpier of the two roads. The headlights did little to dispel the darkness and the regular bouncing of the tires had a calming effect on her frayed nerves.

The heater lulled Maria into a comfortable haze.

She didn’t see the small sign that swung crookedly from a metal pole.

She didn’t hear the sound of the water that flowed at the bottom of the ravine.

She didn’t feel her eyelids gently close as the car slipped off the side of the road.

THREE

Maria woke with a scream when the car tumbled into the shallow creek. Her head thunked against the door as the vehicle bumped and banged and finally came to rest on the driver’s side in the water with a horrible sound of twisting metal.

After a few moments of shocked immobility, she freed herself from the seat belt, ignoring the violent shuddering of her heart. Her first thought was for her passenger. Fortunately, she’d taken the precaution of belting Hank’s cage in the back when they’d stopped for gas, so the frightened rabbit was tossed, but not hurt. He shot her a confused look, one ear up and one hanging down, from his spot in the corner of the crate.

Duke was going to be furious when he saw his car. Frigid water was already seeping through the door. That problem would have to wait. She turned to Hank. “We’ve got to get out of here before you get wet.”

The rabbit blinked and scrambled to right himself.

Slowly, Maria eased out from under the steering wheel and reached the passenger-side window. With difficulty, she lowered the glass and stuck her head out.

A huge dark face with enormous eyes stared at her.

She screamed.

The man screamed, as well, before he whirled around and darted back into the trees.

Maria yanked her head back into the squashed car.

“Who…who was that?” Her mouth was dry. She waited a full five minutes before cautiously poking her head out again. There was no sign of the man in the moonlight. From her spot in the bottom of the ravine, she couldn’t see much, only a tangle of treetops and a swatch of dark sky overhead.

“I’m going to see if I can crawl out and then I’ll come back in for you, Hank. You just sit tight.”

Using the hand rest as a step, she eased herself out of the car and dropped to the gravel creek bed, tearing her pant leg in the process. “Things keep getting better and better,” she muttered.

Inch by inch, she crawled to the top of the ravine, hands scrabbling on loose rocks and wet dirt. Something lizardlike scurried by.

A voice spoke over the wind. “Who are you?”

Maria jerked her head up to find a man standing at the edge of the crevice. She had enough time to register his puzzled look before she lost her balance and toppled backward.

He reached out a hand one second too late to grab her wrist. Maria stumbled down the slope, rolling head over feet until she landed on her bottom in six inches of icy water and large stones.

The cold felt like an electric shock. It left her breathless.

This time she took the strong hand offered her by the man who climbed down. He hauled her to her feet and peered into her face.

“Are you hurt, miss?” His brown hair was close cut around his rectangular face.

Through the mud in her eyes and the gloom, it was difficult to get more than an impression of his features. A faint smell of fresh-baked bread hung about him.

“Uh, no. No. I’m not hurt, just bruised.” Her teeth began to chatter.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Me?”

“You do seem to be the only lady standing in my creek.” He took her by the elbow and guided her out of the water onto the gravel bank.

“Well, I’m, er…” Her teeth chattered so hard she couldn’t answer.

He raised an eyebrow and bent over, checking around the smashed car with a flashlight.

She squeezed her arms tight around herself. “What are you doing?”

“I’m making sure this vehicle isn’t leaking any contaminants into my creek.” He made a slow circle around the car before he straightened and clicked off the flashlight. “It seems to be just fine.”

Maria eyed the mangled blue car and the man’s easy smile. Fine? Did he say fine? The weight of the whole disastrous day splintered the remnants of her self-control.

The blood roared in her ears. “Everything’s all right? Look at that car. How exactly could that be all right? Duke is going to be furious when he finds the side bashed in. How can you even use the word fine when describing this mess, Mr.…Mr.…”

He raised an eyebrow. “Sheridan. Cy Sheridan. And you are?”

She felt herself unraveling like a loose thread. Her words came out in a shriek through her chattering teeth without any guidance from her brain. “Me? I am nobody important. I am certainly not someone who is standing here freezing. I’m definitely not a woman who has lost the most important thing in her life today. And I am surely not a gal who has only had a pack of doughnuts to eat since last night.” The hysterical words bounced along the creek bed, echoing off into the night.

The man blinked, his head cocked. “I see. Well, do you want to get out of this miserable night and come in for a cup of tea? If you have no other plans, that is.”

The words took the oomph out of her rant. He was offering shelter and cups of tea? It sounded civilized enough and his smile was welcoming, but her trust level was lower than it had been two days ago. Her gut wrenched with indecision. He didn’t seem like the type who would be luring her into his house for nefarious purposes. Come to think of it, what other choice did she have? She had nowhere to go and no way to get there. “Um, well…yes, uh, that would be nice.”

She took his offered hand and they scrambled up the slope. His fingers were warm against her chilled palm.

At the top, she hesitated. “I’ve got to get Hank out of the car before he gets wet.”

“Hank?”

She nodded. “I sort of rescued him.”

“Hank is…?”

“A rabbit. A three-legged rabbit. He’s in a cage in the backseat.”

Cy’s laughter was a deep baritone. “Then Hank is invited to tea, also.”

A minute later Cy wrestled the crate out through the dented door while she retrieved her backpack. They walked through clusters of pine-scented trees toward the faint flicker of light in the distance.

Maria looked around for the massive figure that had frightened her earlier. “I saw a man. A really big man. He screamed louder than I did when we saw each other. That wasn’t you, was it?”

“That would be Stew. He’s my right-hand man but he’s not much of a people person. He’ll have to retreat to his room for who knows how long to recover. You’ve probably taken a few years off his life, crashing your car here.”

“I didn’t exactly…” Maria bit back the retort. He was right; she had wrecked a car on his property. Besides, he was inviting her into someplace warm and dry, and including her rabbit. The situation called for good manners along with extreme caution.

“We don’t get much company out here except for the inmates,” he said. “Bit of an isolated spot.”

Her pulse sped up. Inmates?

They approached a small wood-sided house with a stone chimney that poked out at an awkward angle. Cy eased the front door open with his foot and held it open for her.

The interior was small and blissfully warm, thanks to a fire that crackled in a stone fireplace. A worn sofa and wooden rocking chair huddled on a braided rug. She could make out the outline of a miniscule kitchen that adjoined the living room and a hallway that led to the back of the house.

Maria was deliriously happy to huddle close to the fire and warm her numb fingers. She kept a close eye on the rabbit. And her host.

Cy eased the cage onto the floor and peered through the bars. “Good thing this cage is solid. He seems okay. I’ll get him some celery while I heat up the kettle.”

Maria listened to him bang around in the kitchen. She paced the cozy room, eyeing the crowded bookshelf. Most of the volumes were biology-related with a few poetry books and one about photography. A Bible with a tattered cover sat on a tiny wood table. Behind the writing desk was a large paper map stuck full of pins. Her attention was diverted by a small movement. On the pass-through between the kitchen and the living room was an aquarium. She bent closer until her nose almost touched the glass.

A frog about the size of a baby shoe peered back at her. His smooth mottled skin blended in perfectly with the rock and foliage on which he sat. She watched his throat vibrate. “Hi, little guy. What are you doing here?”

Cy appeared over the counter. “I’m sure he would say hello right back at you if he could.”

“What’s his name? Is he your pet?”

“His name is Rana pretiosa but you can just call him a Spotted Frog. He’s not a pet, he’s a patient. A feral cat got hold of him and chomped him up pretty good, but he’s on the mend. He’ll be back looking for a mate in no time, God willing.”

“So you’re a frog doctor?”

Cy laughed. “I’m a frog doc among other things.” He rounded the corner and handed her a mug of tea. Droplets of water shone in his hair. She put his age at somewhere in the midthirties.

Maria tore her gaze away from his intense stare. She moved back to her position by the fire where she could watch him as he offered Hank the celery stalk. The rabbit yanked the thing into his cage and began to munch with gusto.