Chapter 15
When Stephanie's skull smacked against the hardwood floor, she saw stars. Giving her head a quick shake, she looked up and saw that Ranger was very much alert, braced over her protectively, and pulling a gun from behind his back.
He glanced down at her and said, "You okay?"
Another gunshot cracked against the window making her jump.
From his position on the floor across from them, Jase muttered, "Sniper rifle."
Ranger hooked his foot through the straps of his duffle near the fireplace and dragged it within arm's reach. Absently soothing the back of Stephanie's head where she bumped it, he used his free hand to unzip the bag and begin hauling out his cache of weapons and ammo. He pulled out a nasty looking rifle, in pieces, and slid them across the floor to Jase, along with the corresponding ammo. Then he pulled out something Stephanie recognized; a Sig Sauer.
Pressing it into her hand, he reached back into the duffle and pulled out two extra magazines. Setting them down on the floor near them, he pushed up enough to allow her room to breathe. When he made no move away from her, she said, "What?"
Frowning at her, he said, "You're wearing a t-shirt and panties."
"And?"
"Where are you going to tuck your gun and the magazines?"
Jase glanced up from where he was laying, belly down, quickly assembling his rifle. "She doesn't have a lot of options, but I'm looking forward to the show."
Stephanie flipped Jase the bird then turned over and began crawling away from Ranger, unaware that her t-shirt was hiked above her panties.
"Jesus, Steph," Ranger hissed out, pulling her shirt down, then grabbing her ankle to stop her. "Where are you going?"
A quick succession of bullets ricocheted off another window, this time it sounded like the bathroom.
"Fuck," Ranger sighed. "We've got at least two out there. Steph, grab a Kevlar vest out of Jase's bag and get dressed as fast as you can. Stay down. Wear long sleeves and jeans. Don't forget shoes." He yanked at her ankle and pulled her back under him, flipped her over and kissed the daylights out of her.
Dazed, Stephanie struggled to formulate a coherent thought.
Forehead touching hers, he looked into her eyes and said, "You know where the trapdoor is?" At her nod, he continued. "Go through the trapdoor. Wave an object through the opening before you climb down. If someone is watching under the house, they'll shoot at the object. If nothing happens, you need to get into the tunnel. Pull the cover back over once you're in. There's a piece of camouflaged plywood over the other end and it's also covered with some rocks and dirt. You should be able to dislodge it using your feet, but you need to be quiet about it."
Listening to him dole out his instructions so efficiently seemed surreal to Stephanie. It was then that she noticed the elevation of her heart rate, her breathing and that hyper-aware and energized sensation zinging through her veins; good old adrenalin. She knew she should be terrified, but Ranger's bearing and command calmed her. She also knew that giving in to her fears would only hinder her. She needed to tamp down her emotions and focus on the goal. Locking eyes with Ranger, she asked, "What about you?"
"I'll find you."
"What if-"
"Babe."
"Okay," she sighed. "Do you have a flashlight in your bag of tricks?"
"I do, but they'll be able to see you if you use it."
"Crap."
"Stephanie, go. Please."
Stephanie began crawling away, muttering, "Sir, yes sir."
...
After getting dressed and armed, Stephanie belly crawled her way back out into the hall, overhearing Ranger and Jase's matter-of-fact conversation.
Ranger said, "You had to have a fuckin' fire tonight."
Unaware she was watching them, Jase pulled on a Kevlar vest and tossed Ranger his. Jase quipped, "It gets a little nippy in the mountains, Carlos. So sue me."
Ranger said, "The chimney was custom built to double as a sniper turret of sorts. It's reinforced, more so than the walls and windows and the chimney cap hangs extra low and has titanium backing. I'd tell you to shimmy your ass up there and take the guy in the front out, but the whole burning alive thing kinda fucks up that plan."
"So we put the fire out," Steph chimed in. "It's been barely flickering for over an hour, the chimney can't be that hot anymore."
The pained expression of a long-suffering man slid over Ranger's face. Through clenched teeth, he said, "Sweetheart. I thought I told you to get in the tunnel."
Stephanie smiled sweetly at Ranger. "Darling, I was just going to suggest we use the fire extinguisher," throwing a pointed look at the red canister on the wall above her, "and put the fire out. No big plume of black smoke."
Jase cut in, "They might notice the lack of regular chimney smoke."
Giving Stephanie a respectful nod, Ranger said, "They may have noticed you had a fire going on their initial reconnaissance, but I doubt they're paying attention to it now. Besides, it's dark and there's a lot of cloud cover. Good plan, Babe."
At this point, none of them were visibly reacting to the sporadic burst of bullets against the cabin. Steph eased up close to the wall and removed the fire extinguisher, her hand trembling. Yes, she was terrified. But the men appeared calm. She needed to be calm. Think clearly. She snaked her way over to the fireplace, the canister tucked to her side. She said, "Is it just me, or are they not trying very hard?"
Ranger said, "My guess is they're hoping to force us outside. He doesn't want to take anyone out at a distance. This is too personal. He wants me face to face." He added gravely, "He wants us alive for now."
Ranger slid over to the kitchen, slowly stood in the corner near the sink, and removed a decorative plate from the wall, exposing a hidden cut out. Removing the square of faux log, he then pulled out a plate of metal, a brick of cinderblock and then the outer piece of faux log.
Watching him, Jase snorted. "Is this a fucking a castle?"
Smiling grimly as he nosed this rifle through the opening clearly designed for such a purpose, Ranger replied, "Kinda, sorta. No parapet and no mote. Too obvious."
"No murder holes?" Jase shot back.
"Takes too long to boil the oil," was Ranger's bland reply.
Stephanie was a little surprised at their light banter. She supposed they were very much in their element right now and the commentary was a subconscious way to ease the tension for them.
As soon as Stephanie extinguished the fire, Jase called over to Ranger, "Got some hot pads?"
Elbows propped on the counter and eyes focused through the site of his rifle, Ranger reached blindly into the drawer at his hip and pulled out an industrial strength oven mitt and tossed it over his shoulder in the general direction of the den. Jase chuckled, "You've got an Ove Glove! Sweet!"
Stephanie grabbed up the mitt and slapped Jase upside the head with it. "Focus!" She couldn't take the joking anymore.
Jase put the mitt on and carefully slid the foamy grate from the fireplace and out onto the oversized hearth, then pushed it to the side. He peered up the unusually wide chimney shaking his head. "I'm gonna get all sooty and shit." Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, he angled his body in and started shimmying up. "Not hot, my ass!" he hissed. Once his boots disappeared, Stephanie turned back to Ranger.
"What do you need me to do?"
Ranger said, "I really need for you to get in the tunnel."
"I want to help you."
"You have. Stephanie, Santiago wants you. Alive. I need him to think you're still in here while you sneak past him underground."
"Then what?"
"Then I kill these assholes."
"And?"
Rubbing his forehead against the butt of his rifle, he said, "And then I find you."
Moments of silence ticked by before she said, "Okay."
"That easy? Just 'okay'?"
"Well, that and … I love you."
He looked over his shoulder at her then, his eyes soft. "I love you, too, querida."
Sliding back across the floor toward away from Ranger, Stephanie stopped before she reached the hall. "Carlos?"
"Mmmm?"
"Godspeed."
Ranger was silent a moment. In a gruff voice he replied, "See you on the other side."
…
Pushing the mattress and box spring aside, Stephanie squatted and slid her fingers in the grove exactly as Jase had. Feeling the latch, she triggered it and slowly lifted the door. Since the room was already dark, she didn't have to worry about casting a square of light beneath the house. Unfortunately, that also meant she couldn't see the ground beneath her, or any creepy crawlies she might disturb.
Remembering Ranger's words, she grabbed a pillow from the bed, stuffed it into a dark shirt and lowered it through the hole. Nothing. She moved it up and down gingerly, simulating a person climbing out. She heard shots, but they were the same as before, nothing that seemed to be aimed under the house.
She pulled the pillow back up and tossed it aside. Tucking the extra ammo in her back pockets and making sure the gun was secure at the small of her back, Stephanie peeked her head through cautiously and scanned for feet. Clear. Lying on her belly, she bent forward at the waist and reached blindly down to the ground, relieved when she felt dirt. She ran her fingers to the sides and felt a spurt of satisfaction when she caught an edge of plywood. In increments, she slid the wood to the side, careful to make no sound. Once the opening was big enough, she pulled back up into the bedroom and flipped over to her bottom. There was absolutely no way she was going into the nasty tunnel headfirst.
Easing herself down into the ground, she glanced around again, then reached up to close the trapdoor behind her. At the last minute, she stood up and leaned out of the trapdoor and into the bedroom and dragged the rug to tent over the door. She only hoped it would fall flat enough once she lowered the door so that she didn't give the escape route away.
Back in the hole, she quietly slid the board back over the opening, cutting off the little remaining light she had. Holy cannoli, it was dark. There was just enough room to turn around and begin moving forward through the earthen tunnel. She didn't allow herself to think of the bugs, rodents or lizards she might be sharing her egress with. She just needed to focus on the goal.
It had to be at least ten degrees cooler in the tunnel. She could still hear sporadic gunfire, but she wasn't sure if the change in the sound of gunfire was because of the muffled acoustics or if it meant that Ranger and Jase were returning fire.
She paused a moment, her heart clenching. Please let Carlos be okay. Let them both be okay.
Bumping into the wall in front of her for the third time, she realized the tunnel wasn't a straight line from entry to exit. It seemed curve left and right every four feet or so, in a serpentine pattern. She supposed it was a protective measure in case someone was in the tunnel in front or behind you, not allowing a straight shot. In a moment of levity, she decided that if Ranger ever wanted to hole her up in this safe house again, she would insist on memorizing the convolutions of the tunnel so she could improve her time. At the very least, she wouldn't feel like such an idiot.
Time became impossible to judge. It felt like she had been slithering through this never-ending hole for hours but she suspected it was no more than ten minutes. She estimated she was close to the center because she could no longer hear gunshots. Pausing briefly, she relaxed on her stomach and laid her head against her crossed arms. She wondered if it was already over. Had Jase taken out the sniper? Had Ranger, once and for all, silenced Santiago?
Something long, with far too many legs skittered across her hand. Barely repressing a shriek, Stephanie surged forward with new motivation to get to the other end of the tunnel.
Eventually, she butted her head against the last wall. She knew it was the last wall because of the hallow sound it made connecting with her head, and because it lifted slightly. Crap. What if the bad guy was on the other side?
Again, the area at the base of the tunnel was larger, so she was able to swivel around to her bottom and gently push the board away using her legs. Bracing her hands behind her, she pushed her feet to the right cautiously, stopping when the opening was large enough to slide through. Anxious to get the hell out of Dodge, she climbed out, headfirst this time, barely stopping herself from sliding down the slight incline beneath, which was covered with layers of damp leaves.
She replaced the plywood, scooped some extra leaves and branches over the top and crawled about thirty feet in the darkness to the nearest tree, rocks and twigs biting into her knees and palms. Just as she had stood up, she heard a gunshot nearby and dropped to a crouch. There was a second gunshot, and this time, she saw the flash that accompanied it.
Drawing her gun from behind her back, she began to back further away from the direction of the cabin. But then she became confused. The reports from the various guns were coming from different directions. Falling back on the little training she had, she took a defensive stance with her gun two-handed in front of her, turning this way and that as she backed toward the next nearest tree.
The next sound she heard was the sharp snap of a fallen branch cracking to her right. She pivoted and slipped, going down on one knee. Standing again and keeping her gun trained ahead of her with shaking hands, she peered into the darkness.
She heard a heavy whisper carry across the forest. "Stephanie, honey, it's me. It's Carlos. Put the gun down."
Was it Ranger? It was hard to tell. There was no accent. She assumed Santiago would have an accent. Then again, the man was no fool. He'd know to speak with an American accent. But then, he was whispering, so who could tell? She shifted fractionally, tightening her grip on the Sig Sauer, gun still aimed in the direction of the voice.
Ranger didn't call her honey. He called her Babe, or Stephanie, or Steph. Recently, he'd called her sweetheart or querida. But not honey.
"Carlos," she hissed into the woods.
A disembodied voice hissed back, "It's me. You need to put the gun down now. It's safe."
Though she tried to stay focused, a myriad of thoughts raced through her head. Was this a trick? What if it wasn't Ranger? How could she know for sure?
"Do you remember how we met?" she asked, proud that her voice sounded confident and strong when she felt neither of those things.
"Stephanie. Now is not the time," he rasped.
Okay. That would be something Ranger would say. But if this was Ranger and they were safe, what was the rush?
"Do you remember what I was wearing?"
"Stephanie! Enough nonsense." It was a whisper-shout. Something Ranger would do.
She zeroed in as close as she could to where the voice had come from. Then she said, "Was I at the bar alone or with friends?"
There was a muttered curse, then an urgent whisper, "Stephanie, when I walked into that bar-"
She shot four times in quick succession, the recoil jerking her back. There was a muzzle flash just to her left, a sharp, stinging pain in her neck, then she fell back, cracked her head, and it was lights out.
