CHAPTER 58.

Keira adjusted her son's mask and held him tight. The inside of the SUV was faintly illuminated by the dashboard, the outline of David's head barely recognizable through the dust suspended in the air. Judging by the rising tension between David and Jose over the road conditions, she suspected they were about to stop.

"Do you hear that?" said David.

"What?" said Jose. Keira hadn't heard anything either.

"Sounds like explosions-and gunfire. I can't tell the distance."

She didn't like the sound of that. A quick glance over the seat didn't reveal anything unusual. The rear vehicle hadn't been visible for several minutes. Keira a.s.sumed if they were under attack, she'd see gun flashes. Same with the lead vehicle. Still invisible.

"I can hear it, too," said Nathan.

"I don't hear it," said Jose. "All units. My driver reports possible gunfire and explosions. Distance unknown. Can any of you confirm?"

"This is lead driver. Affirmative. Lots of gunfire to the west."

"Confirm. Multiple explosions," said another operative.

"Copy that," said Jose. "Let's stop here to a.s.sess the situation. Jeremy, see if you can identify a place to pull over and wait this out."

"Already on it," said Jeremy.

"I'm gonna get out," said Jose. "Try to pin this down better."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" said Keira.

"If we can't see them, they can't see us," said Jose, opening the door and triggering the dome light.

So much for n.o.body seeing us, Keira thought. Nathan reached up and turned it off as a fresh load of sand and debris swirled through the cabin.

"Close the door, please!" she said.

When the door slammed shut, the wind settled-but Keira didn't. "This is ridiculous! Owen is wheezing!"

"No, I'm not, Mom," their son protested.

"Well, I'm having a hard time breathing," she said. "So you are, too."

"There's nothing we can do about it, honey," said Nathan, stroking her sand-covered face. "We'll be fine. When the storm pa.s.ses, we'll cruise right up to Vegas."

Keira tried to let his gentle touch calm her, but she'd built up an emotional head of steam. "I feel like this is my coffin," she said, straining to hold back a full breakdown. "All we do is go from one coffin to the next."

"Honey," he said, leaning his helmet against hers. "This is probably the safest place in the world right now. n.o.body can see us. Not even with night vision."

The front pa.s.senger door opened, blasting them with hot air and dust as Jose jumped in.

"What's happening out there?" said David.

"Sounds like a battle going on in Wikieup," he said, sounding concerned.

"Who are they shooting at?" said David.

"I don't know," said Jose. "It doesn't make any sense."

That was the last thing she wanted to hear right now. While Jose barked orders over the tactical net, Keira felt the cabin shrink and darken. The warm windows drew closer. She had to get out of here.

"We need to get out of these vehicles!" she yelled, surprised by her voice.

s.h.i.t. She was coming unglued. Calm down. She had a thought and started laughing quietly.

"Are you all right?" whispered Nathan, probably worried that she'd gone from screaming to laughing without any kind of transition.

"I think I'm fine. Kind of," she said, stifling a laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"I just told myself to calm down and take a deep breath, but I can't really take a deep breath with this mask on, or the dust floating around. Good thing I don't have allergies," she said, laughing again.

Nathan laughed. "I've had to stop myself from telling you to breathe deeply like five times already."

"This is unbearable," she said calmly.

"I couldn't agree with you more, but-"

"We'll be fine," she said.

"I'd kiss you, but I'm pretty sure that's logistically impossible wearing all of this gear."

"They probably design it that way."

Jose interrupted the moment. "We're moving about three hundred yards down the road. Jeremy thinks we can slide into the riverbed at that point and shelter under a raised riverbank."

"Has anyone checked the river?" said David, beating her to the question. "It may not rain often, but it does still rain out here."

"We'll check it out when we get there," said Jose. "Hang in there, guys."

The SUV slowly rolled into the pitch blackness, on what promised to be the longest three-hundred-meter trip of Keira's life.

CHAPTER 59.

Nathan strained to catch the slightest glimpse of the SUV ahead of them, intermittently rewarded with a dull red glow that faded as quickly as it appeared. Jose and David communicated quietly, their urgent back-and-forth conversation inspiring little confidence in the backseat. He glanced out of the pa.s.senger door window, seeing nothing but a faint reflection of his own silhouette. Someone could be standing three feet from them and he'd never know.

The SUV jolted to a stop, the already strained conversation in the front seat taking on a more desperate edge. He squeezed Keira's hand.

"We can't just sit here," hissed David.

"I'd have to send a team on foot to scout the approach, and they can't see more than a few meters in front of them. It's too risky."

"This road isn't exactly a secret," replied David. "They obviously knew we were coming up 93, which means they had a lookout somewhere south of here. It won't take them long to figure out we didn't backtrack to Interstate 10."

"They won't know we're here until they're right on top of us," said Jose.

"We won't know they're here until they're right on top of us!" said Nathan. "I can't see a d.a.m.n thing, even with night vision."

"Jeremy said we can set up observation posts next to the road, fifty yards in each direction," said Jose. "It'll give us enough time to spring an ambush."

"You're going to send people out in this?" said Keira. "I thought you said it was a bad idea."

"If they stay close to the road, they can find their way back," said Jose.

"It'll work. We did it in Afghanistan," said David. "The insurgents always tried to hit us during the sandstorms. With our thermal imaging gear, it turned into a turkey shoot."

"We don't have that kind of gear, so we'll have to rely on the element of surprise for our advantage."

"You'll have to station the teams uncomfortably close to the road," said David. "They may only get a chance to hear the vehicles pa.s.s."

"Jeremy has a few ideas to help with that," said Jose. "I think it's time we started to block the window openings. We might be here awhile."

Jose said something to David, and the car stopped.

"Did he just turn off the car?" said Keira.

"We can't keep it running," said Jose. "We've sucked way too much dust through the engine filter already."

"What about circulating the air?" she said. "I can barely breathe as it is."

"The best we can do is leave a few cracks open to let the air flow through," said Jose. "We can't risk a mechanical failure."

The car seemed to Nathan to get warmer immediately after David shut the engine off. This wasn't going to work for Keira. Maybe they would be better off hiding outside, in the lee of the riverbank, sheltered from the wind and sand. The air quality couldn't be any worse than inside the SUV, and the cartel wouldn't be able to find them. They could tie a rope or some kind of line to the vehicle. If the storm cleared, or Jose decided to leave in a hurry, they could find their way back.

Nathan was about to make the suggestion when a powerful spotlight cut through the sand choking the air behind them, illuminating the cabin. He twisted in the seat, seeing the silhouette of the rear SUV in the bright light.

No time for a committee decision. He fumbled for his rifle with one hand while feeling for the door handle with the other. With the handle in his grasp, he turned to Owen.

"Buddy. Grab on to my vest and don't let go no matter what. We're leaving," said Nathan, flinging open the door. "Keira. We're going."

"Nathan!" yelled Jose. "Get back inside!"

He stood on the road and slung the rifle over his shoulder, feeling behind him for Owen. Once he had a solid grip on Owen's hand, he started to walk forward into the darkness. Jose continued to yell, along with David.

"Keira!" he said over his shoulder.

"I'm with you. Right behind Owen," she said.

Nathan moved quickly away from the SUV, slowing down when the yelling started to fade. He had no idea how far away the riverbank might be, or if he was heading directly toward it. The road had twisted back and forth several times since they'd left the highway. A quick look over his left shoulder told him that the spotlight hadn't followed him. They were out of the line of fire for now. That was all that mattered. Jose's vehicles might be bullet resistant, but he'd heard the deep crunch of explosions in the distance. Not even the Marine Corps fielded rocketproof vehicles. He knew that firsthand.

"Nate. Where are we going?" said Keira.

"Anywhere but back there," he said, stopping for moment to check on his son. "How are you doing, buddy?"

"I'm scared," said Owen. "I don't like this."

"Here's what we're going to do," he said. "We're gonna find the river and hide along the riverbank, out of the wind. We'll be safer there."

"Nate," said Keira. "I don't hear any shooting back there."

Nathan searched the blackness, already unable to see the vehicle they'd just escaped. The rear vehicle was barely visible in the spotlight's beam. He did find it odd that a battle hadn't broken out on the road. Maybe they could wait here for a little while.

The spotlight swung in their direction, penetrating the sand and sc.r.a.pping any thoughts about staying in the open. He pulled on Owen's hand, urging them toward the river.

"Let's go," he said. "Away from the light!"

Nathan took a several dozen carefully planted steps before feeling the ground slope away. The light still pointed in their general direction, but it didn't have the power to reach them through the swirling murk.

"I think I've found-"

His son b.u.mped into his back, knocking him off balance. He teetered awkwardly on the edge, letting go of his son's hand before he fell. Nathan skidded through gravelly sand before his right foot hit something solid, tumbling him forward onto his side. Mercifully, his descent ended there, with no discernible injuries.

"I think I found the riverbank!" he yelled. "Get on your hands and knees and crawl backward down the ledge."

"Nathan!" Keira cried. "I hear voices up here!"

"Hurry up!" he said, scrambling up the slope to reach them.

"We're trying!" said Keira.

He felt a smaller boot, which he guessed was Owen's. "Is that you, buddy?"

"It's me, Dad! They're getting closer!"

"Who's getting closer?" yelled Nathan.

His wife screamed, "Get your hands off!"

"Keira!"

His wife's yelling stopped too quickly. Nathan held on to Owen's boot with his left hand, trying to unsling his rifle with the other. He'd just managed to wiggle the rifle free when his son's foot was yanked away.

"Owen!" he screamed, aiming the rifle into the darkness. "Owen!"