Chapter 3
Juliet gazed up at the blue-black sky that was filling with new stars as she tried once again to remember how to breathe. The whole not-breathing experience was growing old, very quickly, along with the rest of their situation out here in the middle of nowhere. She gaped, waiting for her lungs and diaphragm muscles to remember their jobs. It would help if her partner wasn't sprawled across her torso. She moved her left hand and felt Lassiter's head on the ground next to it. She put her hand on his head and patted it, trying to rouse him. They'd landed perpendicularly after the fall off of the hill with his whole upper body covering hers.
"Carlton," she breathed, finally feeling her respiratory system waking up again. Now for her partner. "Carlton, get up."
Lassiter groaned and shifted, pushing himself up shakily until he was on hands and knees above her, which was a welcome relief to her battered torso. "Juliet," he said groggily. "Are you okay? Did I land on you?"
"I'm fine. I'll be fine. Are you okay?"
He sat back on his heels so he was kneeling next to her and put a hand up to his face. "His first shot just missed my head. I'm not sure if my eye is cut or not."
Juliet struggled to a sitting position, feeling as if she'd done a thousand crunches and obliques. She pulled the flashlight from her belt and held it mostly covered by her hand so that she could see her partner's face without making too bright a light. No telling where there attackers were. They'd have to get to cover again as soon as possible. She examined Lassiter's face quickly. There were several large and many small scratches on his cheek and forehead around his right eye.
"Open your eye."
"It's hard," he said, using his fingers to hold his right eye open for her inspection.
"I think it's okay. It's probably a little scratched, though. Can you see with it?"
"Blurry, but yeah. Hurts like hell," he said, grimacing and blinking at the new rush of tears the examination had triggered in the eye. He looked at her, trying to clear his vision and still appearing woozy, when his gaze suddenly focused. "Juliet, you're bleeding."
He was gazing at her right side. She looked down and saw a swath of blood across the vest and soaking into her suit coat below it. But it made no sense for the blood to be on top of the vest. She looked back at Lassiter and saw a red stain spreading out from underneath his vest on his right side, just above the waist.
"It's not me, Carlton," she said.
He looked down as she aimed a thin beam of the flashlight onto his shirt. "Oh, hell," he said. He picked at his shirt and lifted the vest up an inch or so to reveal a hole just under the bottom edge of the protective vest. "The second shot. I was reaching out to grab you, musta raised the vest enough to stop it from blocking the bullet. Lucky."
Juliet drew in a shaky breath, feeling the beginnings of panic as she leaned around to look at his back. The entry point was just above the waistband of his pants on the outside of his lower torso. It looked like the bullet had gone through the outer edge of skin and first inch or so of muscle only. She looked at the front again and felt a small flash of relief that he probably didn't have any kind of organ damage. It was still bleeding, though, and it would hinder him.
"I didn't even feel it before, but now that I know it's there, it hurts like a bitch," he said with an alarming, almost amused-sounding tone. "That's so weird."
"Just relax," said Juliet, wondering if she meant Lassiter or herself. "Take it easy." Her brain was buzzing trying to figure out how to help her partner and wondering how impaired he would be and how to find a new shelter, because she just knew in her bones that their attackers were going appear again any second. As confirmation, grunts and scrambling sounds reached them from somewhere above.
Lassiter lurched to his feet and then stumbled, stifling a gasp of pain. He leaned on her for a moment when she stood up to support him, but then he steadied and pulled out his gun. They both started scanning around desperately for somewhere to hide. Stretching out west of them was a large field of grapevines, and beyond it they could make out a twinkling security light at what was probably some kind of vineyard building. Lassiter took a limping step towards the field, his face contorted with a grimace of pain. Juliet turned to look behind them at the hill they'd fallen down. She squinted into the shadows, realizing with a leap of triumph that the four foot drop-off they'd been subjected to might hold their salvation. There was a small, cave-like depression under the overhang they'd fallen from. She grabbed at Lassiter's arm and pulled him towards it. They ducked down and backed themselves up under the small ledge as far as they could, laying almost on their sides as they tucked themselves in tightly. More scrabbling sounds reached them from very near. Juliet wondered if rabbits felt this way, panicking at any sound while holding stock still. She was pretty sure her heart was beating as fast as a rabbit's right then.
They heard more scraping and skidding noises, and then the thudding sounds of boots running down the last part of a hill. They still couldn't see the men, though. Juliet realized she was holding her breath. She could hear Lassiter's quick shallow breaths that almost sounded like panting. They had backed up into the depression shoulder to shoulder and then had been forced to lay over more and more until they were almost on their sides. Juliet's right shoulder was resting on Lassiter's left hip, and they'd drawn their legs up as far as possible. She felt a pang of regret when she realized he was laying on his wounded side, and the awkward position had to be causing him more pain. He was supporting himself on his right hip and elbow, and holding his gun towards the opening. She put her left hand on his left arm and gave a small squeeze. She felt more than saw him nod his head.
Harsh whispers, so close it made them both flinch. About 10 yards away, the men walked into their view, exchanging heated words in Spanish. The mens' backs were to the ridge and their hiding place. They were scanning the grapevines and arguing about something. Juliet couldn't make out much because the men were whispering and were facing away, but they seemed to be disagreeing over which direction to search. The sniper held up his rifle and walked slowly along the edge of the field, sighting down each row of grapevines, looking for movement. The other man checked his handgun and loaded a fresh clip. Juliet could feel Lassiter's arm start to tremble slightly under her hand, but whether it was from pain, fear or anger she wasn't sure. Probably all three. The sniper lowered his gun and gestured south, along the outer edge of the field. The other man pointed towards the distant lights of the buildings. The sniper shook his head and headed south. After a pause, the other man chambered a round in his gun and followed. They waited, still hardly daring to breathe, for several minutes. Finally, Lassiter started to scoot forward slowly, holding out his gun just in case. They emerged from their hiding spot, listening intently for any sound of their pursuers returning.
"I see the highway," breathed Lassiter. "Not far beyond that building, across the field. It must curve back around there."
She looked back at the hill, wondering if they should try to return the way they'd come. But it looked like a looming mountain now, and she was pretty sure Lassiter wouldn't be able to climb it with his wound. "Should we go that way?" asked Juliet turning and indicating the direction opposite the one their attackers had taken around the field.
Lassiter shook his head and pointed at the nearest row of grapevines that led straight to the distant building. "No. Let's go straight through. We should get there sooner that way, I hope. We can dig in there, or get on past them and head for the highway." He seemed about to say more, but he hesitated and grew quiet again, his grimace visible to her in the dimness.
"How's your side? Has the bleeding stopped?" She leaned over to peer at the wound, seeing that he'd been holding it with his left hand which was now shiny with blood. "We need to put something on that."
He shook his head. "No time, let's go," he said curtly as he started for the grapevines, not waiting for her assent. He held up his gun in the direction the men had taken as he moved to the field, but he kept his left hand on his wound instead of using it to steady his weapon.
Juliet sighed and walked quickly to catch up, aiming her own gun to the left until they'd reached the field. They entered the vines and started down the row, the plants brushing against their shoulders and occasionally smacking them in the face. As they walked, she holstered her gun again and began to take off her vest.
"What the hell are you doing?" hissed Lassiter, glancing over his shoulder at her.
"You need a bandage," she hissed back. She shrugged off her vest and started to slip her suit coat off. "This is bloody anyway." She took her cell phone out of one of the pockets, checking it quickly for a signal. No luck. She took the paper package out of the other pocket and pulled the cell phone out of it, dropping the paper in their wake. She put both phones into her pants pockets.
"Here, hold this," she said, holding out her coat. Lassiter huffed and paused to take the coat before moving forward again. Juliet slipped her vest back on.
"Okay, stop."
"No."
She felt a sudden flush of anger. "Dammit, Carlton! What good is it going to do us for you to bleed out?"
"I'm not bleeding out, and we need to move, not stop to play nurse." He quickened his pace.
She ground her teeth and walked more quickly to catch up to him. "Maybe you're not bleeding out, but you're not holding your gun properly, either," she growled, knowing from experience how effective a jab about proper procedure would be against him. He pulled up abruptly and whirled to face her, using his gun hand to brush at some vines that smacked him in the head. He still kept his left hand to the wound.
"Muzzle control, Carlton," she whispered, trying to soften the tone of her voice now that she'd gotten him to stop.
She could almost see his eyeroll as his shoulders slumped. He released a growling sigh. "Fine," he clipped. He holstered his gun and bunched up the coat in his hand, holding it to the wound. "There, can we go now?"
She performed an eyeroll of her own and said, "Give it here." She took the coat and folded it inside out, trying to make a rough rectangle out of it. She wanted to wrap it around so it would cover both entry and exit wounds. She folded the middle part of the coat, keeping the arms out, then wrapped it around his waist putting the bulk of the middle over the wounds as he held his vest up out of the way. She moved to his other side and pulled the arms together to tie. He grunted at all of the jostling, and she could feel his anxiety to move again radiating from him. The coat arms were just barely long enough to tie together very well. She wasn't sure the knot would hold.
"What are you doing now?" he hissed.
"We need to tie the arms of the coat together better. I'm going to use my bra," she said as she started to shrug off her vest again.
"NO!" he almost yelled, keeping it to a horrified rasp at the last moment. She could almost see the whites of his eyes flash in the darkness. "Oh my God, no!" He started to back away from her, holding up his hands, both hands, to ward her off. "It's fine. It'll hold."
She was shocked to feel a laugh try to bubble up as she watched his retreat. "Okay, okay," she said, taking pity on him. "Let's go. If it starts to loosen maybe we can use a belt."
"Yes, a belt," he said with exasperation as he turned and hobbled towards the building. "I wish you would've thought of that before scaring me half to death."
This time she did laugh.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoO
They were only about halfway across the field, and Lassiter was fighting his growing sense of anxiety. Part of the problem was his increasing fatigue and the pain of the wound. Another part was the doubts that were starting to plague him. He was afraid they wouldn't make it to the building before the sniper and his buddy. Maybe they should just stay in the grapevines. Or they could've gone back the other direction entirely, except that he wouldn't have been able to climb that hill again. Juliet could, though. The plan forming in his head was becoming clearer to him, but he knew she wouldn't like it. Maybe that's why he was feeling anxious, anticipating the coming argument with his partner. She was hard to argue with normally, and he wasn't feeling up to par. Hell, he'd almost been subjected to having her bra tied around his waist just now. He shivered again at the thought and tried to quicken their pace.
He decided it was time to bite the bullet and have the conversation he was dreading, but he'd start at the beginning and ease into it. "Juliet," he began, keeping his voice low. "I think this has all been an inside job."
"The ambush?"
"Yes. Only the sheriff's office knew we were coming tonight to get Earle, and even they didn't know it until 20 minutes before we arrived. The drug gang or whoever it is who attacked us had to be tipped off from within."
Juliet was silent for a few moments. "Wow," she said finally, with a tone of sadness. "Do you think it's the sheriff?"
"No. I think it's the deputy, Andy Spark."
"Why?"
"Because he didn't see you. He left before you came in, and these guys said 'fellas' back there like they think my partner is a man. The sheriff would know better."
Juliet was quiet again, contemplating the implications. Lassiter rubbed at his right eye with the back of his left wrist. At least his eye had mostly recovered from the near-miss shot. It had watered enough to flush out the dirt and was barely blurry anymore.
They were getting closer to the building, and the light from the security lamp on the south corner of it was making it easier to see, and easier to be seen. Lassiter instinctively started to crouch lower as they approached, but it was hard to do because of the wound. The damned thing was just a glorified flesh wound, barely a perforation, but it hurt and the ache was spreading out from it and invading the other parts of his body. He just wanted to sit down and hold still for a while until the ache faded. Sleep would be good, really good, but it wasn't going to happen any time soon. He shook his head, frustrated with his wandering thoughts. His brain was starting to feel muddled and that was a bad thing. They needed to get out of this situation soon. He gestured to Juliet and started to slow down as they got closer to the edge of the field. They were approaching the north corner of the building, which appeared to be some kind of barn, probably for storage of the grapes during harvesting. The eastern side of the barn, the side they were approaching, was obscured by several stacks of large, square plastic bins used for the grape harvest. The bins were about 4 foot by 4 foot and stacked 3 high. The northern side of the barn was dark. Lassiter decided they'd have to run for it and stick to the shadows as much as possible. He dropped to a crouch and peered through the vines, looking for any movement.
"Juliet," he whispered as he continued to look through the vines. "I want you to run to the highway and get help." She drew her breath in sharply, but before she could speak he said, "Look, it's not far. You can get there quickly, quicker than me. I'll stay here and cover you. If they show up, I can keep them busy, give you more time to get to the road and flag down help." He was trying to roll out as many of the reasons he thought this was a good idea as he could before she stated her counter-argument, which he figured would be something along the lines of him being an idiot.
"No, Carlton, I'm not leaving without you," she whispered. "We shouldn't split up."
"I think we have to. You need to get that phone back safe," he said, not adding the 'and yourself' that he was thinking because he knew it would instantly torpedo his chances. "It won't do anyone any good for us to both end up dead and buried in this grape field."
"Gah!" she said, loud enough to startle him. He turned to look at her. "Dammit, Carlton, this is no time for macho stupidity."
"I beg your pardon?" He raised his eyebrows and stared at her in disbelief.
"You threw me in that ditch and then you ran off. You were trying to draw them away from me, right? And now you're trying to do it again?" she rasped. Her eyes were burning with anger. "I'm no damsel in distress here. I don't need to be saved. We need to stick together."
He drew in a breath as his own anger started to build in answer to hers. "I am still your commanding officer, and I will order you to go, if I have to," he growled. But then his anger dissipated. He shook his head and sighed. "I don't think you're a damsel. I think you're a damned good officer who can do this job that needs to be done."
Her brow furrowed, and she seemed taken aback by his change in tone. "Carlton..."
"I can't move very fast. You can. If we both go, they might track us down, and with that night scope we won't even know they're on us until at least one of us is dead. If I distract them here, you'll be in the clear. And then you can bring back a whole damned army for all I care to get my ass out of here. If anyone's a damsel in distress, it's me."
She closed her eyes with a sigh and shook her head. "Okay. But I still think it's macho bullshit."
"Fine. If I get killed, you have my blessing to put that in your report to the chief."
"Don't say that!" she said as she dug out an extra ammo clip. "Here."
"Thanks," he said, taking the clip. They both checked their weapons, making sure the clips were full. She sniffed and rubbed at her nose a couple of times as she examined her weapons.
"Do you want this one too?" she asked, indicating the second gun she had from the men they'd killed.
"Sure. You know me, the more guns the merrier," he said wryly, trying to lighten the mood a bit as he took the gun and tucked it into his waistband. He noticed her eyes starting to look watery and he wanted to avoid dealing with any crying. His nerves were shot enough as it was.
She gave him an exasperated look and sighed again. "Okay. Dammit I still don't like this idea."
"I know. I don't really like it either, but I think we should do it."
"Okay," she said again, looking away at the building.
Lassiter approached the opening of the vine row and peered intently to the south from where the men would probably approach. There was still no sign of them, so he gestured to Juliet. Then he took off in a crouching run that made him feel as if hot knives were being poked into his side. He ran to the northern face of the barn and stood for a moment with his back to the wall, grimacing and waiting for his breath to steady. He looked around the edge of the barn, but the stacks of bins blocked his view, so he scooted over to the stack, which was taller than him, and peered around it. There was still no movement to the south, so he waved Juliet over. She ran low and fast to his side. He moved back to the north wall of the barn and to the far corner. He saw a red flash of tail lights and guessed the road was less than a mile away, straight across another scrubby field from their position. Juliet saw it too and nodded. Then they heard voices. He ran back to the other corner and peered around the stacks of bins. The two men were coming up a gravel road that was probably the access road to the barn from the highway. He had guessed right about beating them to the barn with a straight route. The men stopped at the edge of the light from the security lamp and seemed to be in another heated discussion. Then the sniper pulled out a walkie talkie.
"Okay, it's time for you to go," said Lassiter, neglecting to tell Juliet that the men were contacting someone else. If they were calling in reinforcements, it made little difference to the need for her to get herself and the evidence to safety. "Go now, head straight west to that road. I remember a small gas station. It can't be more than a few miles away. Hopefully you'll be able to flag down a ride before then."
"Stay hidden if you can, Carlton. Don't try to take them on alone."
He looked at her, seeing the mix of frustration and worry in her face. "I'll try, partner."
She nodded, not looking appeased, and then she ran to the other corner of the barn and off into the darkness.
