Different Degrees a Caleb Joyner Mystery

27 three in a row

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27 three in a row

The first bullet missed me, ricocheting off the granite embedded in the mountain, causing me to lose my footing and slide down crashing into a large boulder. The pain was sharp causing me to cry out. I lay there catching my breath as Kristina and Jason came down to join me, seeking the protective cover.

Jason frowned and said, “We’re pinned down here pretty good. Maybe the high ground isn’t that great after all.” Though he was keeping his wits about him, I could see the tremors in his hands and hear the shakiness of his voice. Kristina clung to me like a tight sweater.

I didn’t reply to his comments, my mind too focused on how to deal with our immediate situation. I looked around as bullets whizzed overhead with some plowing into the dirt behind us, causing both Kristina and Jason to lay flat, hugging the ground. The rock we were behind was excellent cover to where we could just sit here and wait them out. They might even get anxious and charge up the hill for us, thinking that we didn’t have the guts to shoot them. I took the Winchester rifle and sat up, crawled over to a crack in the rock then stared down at them. Four killers crouched down with their own rifles. I took up the Winchester placing the barrel in the crack and slid it forward, putting my eye against the cup of the sniper scope.

Roberto, Edmundo’s main man, and three of our guards or former slave drivers were shooting at us with intent to kill. I had Roberto in the scope crosshairs and looked at his face as he fired. He then glanced over at the other three men, his mouth opening and his arm pointing to the left. Two of them started to get up, most likely deciding to surround us and attack us on another front. I aimed at one of them, my finger tightening on the trigger. I took a deep breath and held it. I hesitated, thinking how I use to do this in Iraq; see the face, I.D. him and fire. This was different. I had talked with these two, heard them laugh and joke, knew them as more than a target. They were human, but even more so was Grandpa. I let my breath out slowly and pulled the trigger.

Before I could see what happened to the first man I was on the one standing next to him. I aimed for the chest firing then went low to where another was on his knees. I saw his face with the cruel scar down his nose and centered the crosshairs on it pulling the trigger once more. I looked for Roberto but I couldn’t see him. All that remained were two bodies laid out on the ground and a third writhing in pain. I pulled the trigger again, ending his torment.

“Did, did you k-k-kill them?” Jason stammered.

“Not all of them,” I answered coldly. “Roberto got away.”

“You shot them so quick! They didn’t even have a chance!”

“Neither did your grandfather,” I reminded him. He didn’t say anything, torn between ‘Thou shall not kill’ and the desire for justice.

I started scanning the area for Roberto hoping to locate him, perhaps running down the hill to report the shootings to Edmundo. The fact that I hadn’t seen him around led me to believe that he was somewhere waiting for us and that Roberto and his crew were suppose to herd us towards him and his killing lead.

“You see him?” Kristina asked, her voice dripping ice, wanting more blood.

“Nope. He probably ran back whence he came, either to report to Edmundo or to save his life.”

“Or maybe both,” Jason offered, his voice no longer shaky. Perhaps the remembrance of his grandfather stiffened his resolve.

“Or maybe both.” I agreed.

Kristina cleared her throat of the mountain dust then said, “What are we going to do now?”

I looked at her face and noticed for the first time just how pretty she was. I guess that I, just like all the other guys, noticed only her outrageous body or her bad leg, missing the real jewel. I looked into her soft brown eyes and reached out taking her into my arms, hugging her to me; to not only comfort her but me as well. I let her go but she grabbed me tighter, pulling me into her heat, and then reached up to my face, pulling my head down to those soft, hot lips. When she was done she looked into my eyes and said, “I was afraid for you, sure that you were a dead man. Sure that he’d kill you. But you’ve got that killer mindset even worse than they do.”

I stared speechless taking in her beauty, her eyes darting furtively over me as if gauging me against some personal scale, unsure if I was her hero or just another one of the killers she had always been surrounded by. “Don’t worry,” I began. “We’ll make it Kristina. When this is over we’ll have you and me and we’ll make it.”

She kept glued to my face, her eyes roaming over it as if searching for an answer. I found myself wanting to please her as if a rooster, wanting to show off for the new hen. It was the same feeling I had back in grade school the instant I set eyes on Priscilla Moore and felt the first palpitations of a schoolboy crush. “I believe you,” she whispered, nodding her purple head. “But I can’t believe that I could have someone like you.”

“Like what?”

“You’re like Edmundo but different.”

“Different?”

“Yes, you’ve more good in you, but enough bad to keep us alive.”

I knew then that the reason for her standoffishness was due to her having written me off. She had felt sure that I was going to be killed by Edmundo. I was too soft, too kind hearted. But then I dispatched three bad guys and now my survival chances went up a few notches.

“Are we going to get out of here or what?” Jason said intruding into our intimacy. “This place gives me the creeps.”

We decided to stay low in the forest and go around the mountain. It’d take longer but would give us the best chance of making it. I checked my cell phone and found I had one bar on the signal strength indicator. I tried to call 911 but the call was dropped. I tried once more without success then tried to text Ranch with the same results and gave up.

“A little further and the signal should be better,” Jason said, after trying his cell phone unsuccessfully.

We started off with Kristina and I holding hands. She occasionally pumped my fingers and smiled at me when I looked at her. I released her hand, choosing to pull her body close to me, my arm around her shoulders, protectively holding her like a teenager on a date with the head cheerleader. “Look at who I have!”

“We’re going to make it Caleb! I won’t let them hurt you! I won’t!” Kristina assured me. I pulled her closer.

I could feel myself smiling; my head still not believing how good things were going. It made me forget that someone was out there who wanted me dead. It distracted me from thoughts of Ruth and her fiancé. Unfortunately it would prove to be a bit too distracting.