Debra pointed it out. “If they were rear-ended hard enough to cause an explosion like that, shouldn’t the station wagon’s front end be smashed up, too? It was next in line. And what caused the truck in front to wreck?”
I didn’t like where this was leading. I didn’t like it at all.
Debra caught it, too. “Someone ambushed them.”
Quickly, we backed down the hill until we could no longer be seen from the other side. Both of us thought about the implications of the situation. Debra finally asked the question that was on both our minds. “So, now what?”
I thought for a second longer. “Well, we can’t very well turn back, and it would be another eighty miles to go around. We’re half an hour away from being home free, and we don’t know how long we have before things get really rough.”
She crossed her arms as if she were cold. “Looks like they already are.”
“You know what I mean.” We were both all too aware of the nuclear war in the offing.
“Yeah.”
I looked over at her. “We’ve got to go through.”
She stared back at me as if I’d lost my mind. “And I suppose whoever blew the hell out of those people down there is just going to smile and wave as we drive past? Get serious, Lee.”
“No,” I agreed. “It won’t be that easy. I’ll have to go down first and scout the area. Find out if it’s safe.”
“And if it isn’t?”
“Then I’ll come back very quietly and let you know.” I grinned in what I hoped was a reassuring manner. “I’m not about to take any chances, babe. First sign of trouble and I’m out of there.”
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the other side of the hill. “Fine. But what if they have other ideas?”
I could see that her mood was rapidly deteriorating, and I was beginning to get a little exasperated myself. “Look, Debra, we don’t even know if there is anyone. I doubt there is, honestly.”
That wasn’t exactly true. I certainly hoped that whoever had massacred that convoy had had the good sense to move on immediately afterward. But they might just as easily have been lying in wait down there, hoping the wreckage would attract more victims as they came to help. I wasn’t about to mention this to my wife, however.
“Well, if you don’t think there’s anyone down there, let’s just take our chances and drive on through. We could probably make it through on the right shoulder without any problems.”
Uh, oh. “I just said I doubt that there’s anyone there. I can’t be sure until I go down and check it out.”
She mulled it over for a moment. “But you really don’t think there’s anyone there?”
Good. She was giving in. “No, I really don’t.”
Her smile was very nearly vicious. “Okay then, which side do you want?”
I gaped stupidly as the implications sank into my skull. “What do you mean?”
“Well, if there’s no danger, and this is just a precaution, then two of us should get it done twice as fast. And you did mention that time is of the essence.” Her smug grin was infuriating.
“Now wait a minute!” I nearly exploded. “I just said I didn’t think that there was anyone there. There’s no guarantee that I’m right. And if you think I’m going to let you risk yourself just because you happen to have a stubborn streak, you’re sadly mistaken.”
Well, that did it. Her grin disappeared, and genuine anger laced her voice. “And if you think I’m about to go sit in the van and twiddle my thumbs while you go play GI Joe, then you are sadly mistaken!”
Our voices had risen as we argued, and the kids looked up the hill. Struggling to stay calm, I asked in a low whisper, “What if I’m wrong, Debra? What if there’s trouble?”
“’Then I’ll come back very quietly and let you know.’ I think that was exactly how you put it, wasn’t it?”
“Oh, come on! Listen, I know how you feel, but be reasonable, for Christ’s sake!”
Major mistake. Her voice was suddenly icy cold. “Be reasonable?” she hissed. “I am being reasonable. You’re the one that thinks that just because you’re a man, you’re more qualified to walk in the woods. Well, you listen to me for a second, mister. I’m smaller than you, lighter than you, and can outrun you. And unless I miss my guess, your precious martial arts training doesn’t teach diddly about woodland stalking, so I’m just as well-trained at that as you are. So what do you have to say to that, Mr. Haiya-mama kung fu super shit?”
To say she was pissed off would be like comparing Krakatoa to a Roman candle. The thing that bothered me was that, when I really stopped to consider, she was correct on all counts. I was acting like a stereotypical insecure, macho male. I knew that on an intellectual level. But this was my family, damn it! I didn’t want to chance any of them getting hurt if I could possibly help it.
Logic and emotion battled. Logic presented a way out. “All right, what do you suggest?”
Surprise quickly replaced the anger in her eyes. “What?”
I shrugged. “You’re right. I’m being an idiot. So what do you suggest we do?”
Quickly recovering her composure, she replied, “Just what I said a minute ago. You take one side, and I’ll take the other. We’ll get done twice as fast and be on our way as quickly as possible.”
“All right.” I nodded amiably. “But what about the kids?”
She paused, appearing less certain. “They’ll stay in the van. You showed Megan how to use the rifle, so they should be just fine.”
“Fine. But what if something does happen to us? Not that anything will, but what if? Say that there is someone down there, and they kill us,” I said bluntly. “Or even if they just capture us and try to ransom us for the supplies in the van. Do you think Megan could handle a situation like that on her own?”
Debra was quiet, thinking. Finally, she shrugged. “Okay, you’re right. One of us needs to stay with the kids. But I still think that I should do the scouting. I’m smaller and quieter, so I have a better chance of getting in and out without being seen.”
“But if there’s trouble, I’m the one who’s trained to handle it,” I countered.
I pulled a quarter out of my pocket. “Flip you for it.”
Chapter 4
Le bras pendant a la iambe liee,
Visage pasle, au sein poignard cache,
Trois qui seront iurez de la meslee
Au grand de Genues sera le fer laschee.
His arm hung and leg bound,
Face pale, dagger hidden in his bosom,
Three who will be sworn in the fray
Against the great one of Genoa will the steel be unleashed.
Watching the van as it passed around a curve and out of sight, I slipped the two-headed quarter back into my pocket. They would wait at a roadside park we had passed a mile back until six forty. No more, no less. That gave me just over half an hour.
If I hadn’t made it back by then, Debra had agreed to backtrack and detour around the area, taking the longer alternate route. I had assured her I would follow as soon as possible. It would mean driving an additional eighty miles, but that was better than ending up as part of the litter problem on the other side of the hill.
I pushed the Suzuki into the woods and slipped among the trees to head over the hill. I made my way about halfway down the hill, then stopped to scan for any signs of life. Nothing.
I moved on down, slipping from tree to tree as quietly as possible, alert for any indication that I’d been seen. Finally, I drew alongside the rearmost vehicle.
The station wagon, about twenty years old, with what had once been imitation wood grain trim, was about twenty feet from the tree I hid behind, so I had an excellent view. In the scorched mass of melted plastic and charred paint, I saw that the windshield had shattered, and wispy tendrils of melted plastic trailed from the chromed border. The hood was blackened, and black streaks trailed down the fender. Even the front tires were melted.