Day 15
Only a short good-bye the next morning, trying to avoid the sentimental stuff. Cut assured me once more that he would be back in less than twenty-four hours. Kelly didn't say much of anything for a change, and Chief merely shook my hand, a drawn expression on his face.
"Okay, Chase, back to work," I mumbled, walking back into the cabin after they had disappeared down the path. "Let's see what kinda ideas we'n come up with to make this place a little less inviting, huh, Buck?"
He looked up at me with big eyes, full of understanding.
"Well, ol' boy, it's just you and me now," I kept talking, partly to make myself feel better. "Here," I held out a piece of Jerky, "Jimmy got you hooked on that stuff, didn't he?" I scratched his head, and he swallowed the whole strip in one gulp. "Now, let's see what all we got here..."
Buck kept watching me closely as I rummaged through the assortment of 'toys' I had lugged up the mountain. Getting together what might be of value for my intentions, the feeling of forgetting something crept up on me. Shit! I looked at my watch. It had been more than eleven hours since my check-in with the CQ down on base.
"Now I'm in trouble!" I grinned at Buck, switching the radio on.
"Sergeant Riggin," a cold voice came back after I opened the line, "there is someone here who needs to speak with you."
Great! Wonder who's gonna chew my ass this time.
"Sergeant Riggin," a different voice rang through, and I flinched as I recognized it, "this is Agent Micheals. What in the hell are you doing?"
"My job, Sir," I answered hard.
"Yes, well, your job is finished. I want you back down here by this afternoon. Is that perfectly clear?"
"Yes, Sir! Riggin out!" I hissed and flipped the switch. "Well, Buck, I guess we got a decision to make."
He came limping up beside me on three legs and nuzzled my hand.
"So what's it gonna be? Get court-martialed now or after a while?" I rubbed his back. "Damn, boy, that son-of-a-bitch knows exactly what's going on up here. Figure he already suspects that we found a little more than we should have." I blew out a long breath and grimaced against the pain in my head. "Guess it don't really matter whether we stay or not. He would...wait a minute!" The realization suddenly hit me. "Damn, Buck, you know what I think?"
A look, like he actually did.
"Right! He didn't send us to find his boys. He just wanted to make sure, none of the guys that's been up here would come back to squeal."
Buck gave me a short snarl of agreement.
"Guess that settles the matter for us, don't it, boy?"
Another snarl and he headed for the door, looking back at me with a "let's go" expression.
"Okay," I grinned, grabbing up my equipment. "We'n have this set up in a couple of hours, and when Cut gets back we'll just see how far they intend to play this game."