Hot Velocity(26)

Caveman appeared over him. “T-Rex!” He seemed to be shouting, but the sound barely made it to him. “T-Rex, breathe!” He pushed on his chest and forced air out.

T-Rex gasped and sucked in a lungful of dusty air. He sat up coughing, breathing as deeply as he could to fill his empty lungs. After popping his ears several times, he could hear better, but the ringing continued.

“They rigged it. They had a trip wire just inside the cave where you couldn’t see it.” T-Rex held up his hand. “Help me up.”

Caveman grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. “Are you all right?”

“I have to be. If they aren’t here, they have to be somewhere else. From what I could see before I set off the explosion, there were empty ammo cases, tables and chairs and maps on the walls.”

“Could you tell what the maps were of?” Garner asked.

“No. I couldn’t see that much. My eyes hadn’t adjusted completely to the dark interior before the explosion.” T-Rex covered his ears and pressed hard, hoping to readjust his eardrums. It helped, but he still heard sounds as if they were coming from the end of a long tunnel. And that damned ringing wouldn’t stop.

Caveman and Ghost climbed the hill to the cave and pulled at a few rocks before shaking their heads and coming back down.

Sheriff Scott had joined them. “I’ll see what I can do to get a crew out here to dig that cave out. There has to be something in there they’re trying to hide. We might be able to pull fingerprints from whatever is left of the cases and ammo boxes.”

Ghost pointed to the ammo box they’d passed on their way up before the explosion. “You might get something from that one. And you won’t have to dig to do it.”

The sheriff nodded. “I sent my men and the state police north following the trail to see if they find where they moved the goods. If you’re up to it, you might want to follow. There are a lot of trails and roads leading into and out of these hills. Just because my men didn’t see anyone on the roads last night, doesn’t mean they didn’t leave. But then again, they might still be holed up in an alternate location.”

“We’ll follow,” T-Rex said. To him, his voice sounded as if he was speaking from a long way away. He started toward his four-wheeler.

Garner caught his arm and pulled him to a halt. “I think you should go back to the ranch house. You took quite a tumble, and that explosion probably didn’t do your eardrums or anything else any good.”

“I’m fine.”

Garner held up two fingers. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Two.” He frowned at his temporary boss. “Can we go now?”

Garner nodded. “Yes. But for the record, I don’t like it. I think you should see a doctor.”

“Later. We have a small army to stop.”

They followed the others along the trail. Soon, T-Rex’s head cleared enough to realize they were nearing the valley where the pipeline inspector had been killed.

As he rolled over the top of the ridge and came to a halt, he looked down at the trail leading to the bottom. The law enforcement officers were almost to the bottom. When they left the trail and drove across the valley floor, another explosion rocked the ground. Rocks and dust blasted into the air from the area around the pipeline.

The deputy in front of the pack flipped over the handlebars of his four-wheeler and landed a couple of yards away. The two ATV riders behind him swerved and flipped their four-wheelers. Those behind them stopped suddenly, leaped from their vehicles and ran toward the downed men.

From his perch high above, T-Rex stared down at the chaos and commotion. He glanced all around, from the top of the other ridge down the sides of the hills to the bottom. Nothing else moved. Not a single member of the Free America group stood around to watch the explosion here or at the cave. It was almost as if they’d known someone would come that way looking for them and they set up a smoke screen to hide what they were really up to.

Garner pulled his ATV up beside T-Rex and jerked the radio from the pocket of his jacket. “Garner here.”

“It’s me, Hack,” the computer guy’s voice crackled over the radio.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” Garner asked.

“Got trouble up north. You’re wasting your time looking for your Free America group in the hills. They’ve staged their takeover.”

T-Rex left his vehicle and crossed to where Garner stood.

“Where?” Garner demanded.

“At Old Faithful. They’re at the visitors center. There was a campaign rally there today with Grady Morris. He had a surprise visitor with him.”

“Who?” Garner asked.

“The vice president of the United States.”

A lead weight settled low in T-Rex’s belly. Holy hell. And then his gut twisted into a tight knot. “Sierra Daniels was going to Yellowstone today. They were supposed to be at Old Faithful today.”

“Anyone else caught in the takeover?” Garner asked into the radio.

Hack replied, “Some women and little kids who were in the theater where they took the vice president. They think half a dozen women and half a dozen children were in there. Something like seventeen people are being held hostage.”

“What’s going on?” Ghost stepped up beside T-Rex.

T-Rex clenched his fists. “This whole effort today was a waste of time, a smoke screen for what they were planning.”

“And what was that?” Ghost asked.

“They’ve taken hostages at the Old Faithful visitors center. The vice president is one of them.”

Caveman joined them. “Vice president of what?”

T-Rex turned to his teammates. “Of the United States of America.” He hurried toward his ATV.

“Where are you going?” Garner asked.

“Sierra Daniels was there.” He threw his leg over the seat and started the engine. “I have a sinking feeling she’s among the hostages, along with the children in her care. I’m going to rescue her.”

* * *

SIERRA HUDDLED ON the floor with the other women, holding the little ones in her arms, trying to comfort them and keep them quiet. The armed men who’d taken them and the vice president of the United States hostage didn’t look like they’d put up with much. Crying children would only make them angry and impatient.

They’d been held in the theater for over an hour without any idea of what the group was demanding. Some of the children had cried themselves to sleep. Others clung to the adults, hiding their faces from the bad guys. It wouldn’t be long before they got hungry or had to use the bathroom. The crying would start all over again.

Sierra handed Brenda the little boy she’d been holding and stood.

“Where are you going?” Brenda asked, her brows furrowed, the strain of the takeover showing in the lines around her mouth.

“To find out what’s going on and try to negotiate the children’s release.”

“You can’t.” Brenda grabbed her hand. “You heard them. They’ll shoot anyone standing.”

“You two, shut up and sit down,” a voice said.

Another masked man entered the room behind the bossy one. “I’m taking over here,” he said. “You can join the others outside in the lobby.”

“I was told not to leave them,” Bossy Man argued.

The man grabbed Bossy Man by the collar and shoved him toward the door. “Get the hell out! Now!”

Sierra recognized the voice and fought the sinking feeling in her belly. She’d heard that same tone too often over the past eight years. The man staring through the slits in a ski mask was her ex-husband, Clay Ellis.

Once the other man was gone, Clay started toward her. The other guard standing watch over the vice president and Grady Morris called out, “What are you doing?”

“Our leader wanted names of the hostages.”

The man snorted. “He has the most important one. No one tops the vice president except the president himself.”

“Look here, young man.” The vice president rose from the theater seat and took a step toward his captor. “Release us at once before this goes too far.”

The man turned his weapon on the vice president and said in a cold, deadly tone, “Move one more step and I’ll blow a hole right through you.”

“You don’t want to do that. Murder carries a lot longer sentence than kidnapping. In some states a murderer can get the death penalty. Don’t go there, son.”

“I’m not your son,” the man spit at the country’s second in command. “Don’t tell me where to go or what to do. I know my chances of getting out of this alive are nil. Why should I care if I take a few people out with me?”

“Please, Mr. Vice President. Sit down,” Sierra said. The last thing she wanted to see or have the children witness was the murder of the vice president or anyone else, for that matter.

The vice president backed up and took his seat.

Clay’s counterpart aimed his rifle at Sierra. “Now, you sit down and shut up.”

“Back off. I’ve got this one,” Clay said. He walked all of the way down to where Sierra stood, grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the others. “Play your cards right and I’ll get you out of here.”

“I know it’s you, Clay. That mask hides nothing from me,” Sierra said, her tone low. “You can’t let them do this.”