One Step Ahead

Down The Rabbit Hole

      After attaching the last wire, Harris replaced the cover on the front of the heavy steel box. "Well, that's finally done," he mumbled to himself. "Now all I have to do is fire these mothers up, and we can get this party started."  

      As he had driven to Cachuma Lake, it had occurred to him that since he was assuming Briar Malveaux's business partner had likely stashed her and the longhair in his hunting cabin, that he needed to think of a way to be certain that they wouldn't be able to contact anyone when he arrived on their doorstep. So after a brief stop at a roadside rest area to look over the collection of items which he had "liberated" from the evidence lockup, he had decided on a strategy, which involved finding the cell phone towers serving the area and placing explosives in the metal boxes holding the radio transmitters which operated the towers.

      Once he had arrived at the lake, he had scouted the locations of both the cabin and the towers, and had decided that the best course of action would be to start by rigging the tower closest to the location, moving out to the others, and then setting off the charges on his way back to the cabin. He would then make entry, and either assure himself that Purdy and Malveaux weren't in residence, or finally eliminate them.

      He shoved his tools into the pocket of his jacket and began to climb back over the fence enclosing the tower, congratulating himself on his own ingenuity. But as he reached the top, his carefully-laid plan hit an unexpected snag as a heavyset, fiftyish man stepped toward him out of the trees, calling out, "Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing in there?"

      "No worries, my man, just routine maintenance," he replied, flashing a grin at the older man and doing his best to sound relaxed and casual.

      "Bullshit! I've lived out here for the last five years, and I've seen how the maintenance crews work! If you were part of the crew you wouldn't have had to climb the damn fence, because you'd have the keys to these locks here!"

      As Harris dropped to the ground, he noted that the busybody had fumbled a cell phone from his pants pocket, and muttered, "Oh, fuck it! What's one more, anyway?"

      "Eh? What's that?" the other man questioned, glancing up from his phone. His eyes widened in astonishment at the sight of the handgun aimed at his face, and he had only enough time to blurt, "Holy shit!" before Harris pulled the trigger, and his face disappeared in a spray of blood and tissue.

      Replacing the gun in his holster, he bent down, grabbed the dead man's arms, and dragged him around the cell tower, out of sight of anyone who happened to drive by. He then scooped up a few handfuls of dirt, using it to cover the blood that had pooled on the ground, and shuffled his feet through the dirt to obliterate his tracks. He then walked back to his car, climbed in, and pulled away from the tower, turning back in the direction of Wiley Frazier's cabin.

      Then, just before he went over the hill and lost sight of the tower, he reached into the seat next to him, picked up a small device, and pushed a button.

      Even from the other side of the hill, the noise from the resulting explosion caused his ears to ring, and a small crack appeared in the window of the driver's side door. He cut his eyes briefly to the side, then shrugged and turned his attention back to the road in front of him, saying, "One down, two more to go."

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      As Briar lay back on the living room rug, pulling up the zipper of her jeans, Ashley draped his arm across her waist, murmuring, "Well, at least if I have to be incommunicado, I have a hot chick to keep me company."