"Sp...Spirit," he rasped, recognizing her at once. "Are...are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Spirit replied with a sardonic twist to her lips. "I'm not the one Phipps was playing with. Does it hurt a lot?"
"Pretty much, yeah," admitted Joe.
"Umm...do you remember anything?" Spirit inquired a bit hesitantly. She didn't want to remind him of his amnesia but it was possible, after the beating Phipps inflicted and Joe's loss of consciousness, that he might remember.
"You mean about me?" Joe asked for clarification.
"Yes," Spirit acknowledged.
"No," Joe answered. "But I do know it was Phipps who brought us here. Wherever here is," he added, not recognizing the room.
"We're at Farkas's," Spirit informed him. "In the basement. Farkas came in and jumped on Phipps for bringing me and not killing you."
"Then why..."
"Phipps convinced Farkas that he might need both of us as hostages if you had been able to tell Dad anything," Spirit explained. "I think Phipps is afraid Dad may already have called the CDC about the reason behind the radiation poisoning."
"Which would only matter if whatever they are mining is illegal," Joe said.
"What could be illegal to take out of a mountain?" Spirit asked.
"Plutonium or uranium or anything that is radioactive," Joe stated. "The government gets involved in all that type of mining." Joe was feeling better and began struggling to free himself.
"It's pointless," Spirit told him. "They used those cable tie things to incapacitate us."
Joe tried to break the ties but eventually gave up. "How long have we been here?" he asked.
"A few hours," Spirit replied. "Not long enough for mom or dad to have gotten home yet."
"Great," grumbled Joe, closing his eyes.
"We should probably try to get some rest," Spirit suggested. "There's no telling what is going to happen tomorrow."
"Mmm-hmm," agreed Joe, already half-asleep.
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Joe awoke with a start as someone grabbed his upper left arm just under his armpit and hauled him to his feet. "Let's go," he was ordered, his consciousness returning as he realized he had been freed.
"Where?" Joe asked, glancing over his shoulder at Spirit who was still tied up but was gazing in terror at him and the two men with him as he was herded toward the steps in the corner.
"To your permanent resting place," was the snide answer.
"NOOO!" screamed Spirit, struggling with her bonds.
The men continued to ignore her as they shoved Joe up the basement stairs and into the kitchen. A few minutes later, Joe was on the living room floor with Jerry, the elderly Farkas, Phipps, and three other men gathered around him.
"Son, why did you go to the Fairbanks?" Farkas asked Joe in a mocking tone.
"I'm not your son," snarled Joe, his blue eyes dark and intense.
"You thought you were," Farkas reminded him.
"Until Jerry tried to kill me with a cave-in," Joe retorted.
"Too bad you didn't die," Farkas said. "It would have saved us a lot of trouble."
"Sorry," Joe replied with a smile. "What about the mine? Is it uranium?"
"It is," Farkas acknowledged.
"What are you going to do with it?"
"Sell it, of course," Farkas answered. "There's a group who are very interested in the product."
"Terrorists," Joe snorted in disgust.
"Yes," acknowledged Farkas. "It is good for making bombs after all."
"Have you considered that the bomb might be used against us?" demanded Joe.
Farkas shrugged. "I have no allegiance," he stated. "Once I have the money from the sale, we will be welcome in any country of our choosing."
"Traitor," Joe stated.
Phipps lifted his steel-toed boot and kicked Joe hard in the stomach. "Oooh," Joe groaned, curling into a ball and holding onto his stomach.
"What are we going to do with the girl?" Jerry asked his father.
"The girl is still useful," Phipps said before Farkas could speak. "We can make her dad sign the papers."
"What if the CDC already knows the truth?" Jerry demanded.
"Fairbanks hasn't told anyone what Joe knows," Farkas stated calmly. "If he had then this whole place would be crawling with the FBI, the CIA, you name it." His face broke into a big smile as he looked down at Joe. "You wanted to see the mine so badly, I think you should get what you want."
Phipps reached down and pulled Joe to his feet and then shoved him at two of the other men in the room. "Seal him in," he ordered.
"We're closing up shop?" asked one of the men with a scowl as he put fresh cable ties around Joe's wrists.
"We have no choice," Farkas answered. "The girl can only be useful for so long and the sheriff was around asking about Joe yesterday. Once he checks out my story, he will be back with reinforcements. I think it's best if we just sell what we have and get out of here."
"But the buyers won't be here for another two weeks," the same man who had spoken before complained.
"I have already contacted them," Phipps stated. "They will be here in less than two hours. Now, take care of the boy and get back up here. We have to make sure everything is sealed. Our buyers would not appreciate a leak considering the expensive equipment they have provided us with for its storage and transportation."
Joe was led out of the house and to a black Ford truck where he was sandwiched between his two captors for the short trip to the mine opening. "The whole town will hear the explosion when you seal me in," Joe told them.
"No, they won't," said the man who hadn't spoken before. "We have a silent charge," he explained. "The US developed it last year but it is still under wraps."
"Then how did you get it?" demanded Joe.
"Our buyers gave us a supply," was the answer as the truck was brought to a stop. "Don't worry, Kid," the driver continued. "You'll die pretty quick with all of that radiation. It's almost off the Geiger counter it's so strong."
Joe paled but never said anything as he was hauled out of the truck. "Here." Joe was thrust at the driver. "I'll set the charge. You make sure he's in far enough."
"We could just let him be buried," the driver argued. He didn't like being in the cave even for a short period of time.
"Except he may be too far out for the blast to bury him," the other guy pointed out.
"Fine, fine," grumbled the driver, grabbing Joe's arm.
Joe began struggling but stopped when a 45 Mangum was brought into view and aimed at him. "That's right," he was told as he ceased struggling. "Now move. We don't have all day."
Deep inside the cave, Joe was shoved to the hard ground and soon long cable ties once again bound his feet. One eclipsed each ankle and a third tie held them together. "Bye, Kid," his captor said, standing up straight after pulling the ties tight. He picked up the lantern that sat on a rock above Joe's head and left.
Joe's stomach felt like lead when it got progressively darker as the man exited the cave with the light. Soon, he was in absolute darkness. He waited for the sound of rocks falling to seal him in but he wasn't even sure he would be able to hear them. He was at least a quarter of a mile inside the mountain.
Was this how it was going to end? Alone in a dark cave surrounded by a radioactive substance that would, contrary to his captor's belief, kill him slowly over the course of a couple of days? No water. No light. And worst of all, he still didn't know who he was. Did he have a family? And if so, why couldn't they be found? Surely they had reported him missing, unless whatever misfortune had caused his amnesia had killed them?
Joe closed his eyes and swallowed. Anytime now, he thought. I'll be just another statistic. Lost. Never to be seen again. Just another runaway? Could that be it? Did I run away from home for some reason? But no, then the sheriff would have found a missing person's report for him unless. "Unless they don't care," Joe said aloud. The utter hopelessness of his situation began manifesting itself as Joe sank into hopeless despair.
