Gunsmoke and Spies 3

MKSMKMKSMKMKSMKMKSMKMKSMKMKSMK

Trying not to show his ever growing uneasiness, Lee ushered Amanda back down the boardwalk and towards the front of the museum's main building. Scanning the area, he still saw nothing that warranted worry, but he did still feel it. Clasping Amanda's hand firmly in his own, he led her through the iron gates at the front and out into the parking lot toward their car.

"What's wrong, Lee?" Amanda asked when they arrived at the agency car they'd been given. Lee's silver Corvette had been deemed too flashy and totally out of character for the disguises they had adopted.

Opening the door of the plain brown, four door, Buick sedan, Lee gently took Amanda by the arm and helped her into the car without answering. Once he settled into the driver's seat, he took one more, hard look around and finally spotted what, or at least who, he knew was there all along.

Standing near the gates, he and Amanda had just gone through, was a medium height man with a thick neck and powerfully built arms. His round, olive skinned face had a scar across his right cheek and his black eyes practically bored into Lee's. Pushing a hand through his long midnight colored hair, he watched Lee and Amanda intently as Lee backed out of their parking spot and turned to the right, heading out through the gates.

"Who was that man, Lee?" Amanda had spotted him right off and the mere sight of him had given her chills.

"His name's Armando Saldez." Lee told her. "He's an arms dealer from Mexico. I was afraid he'd be involved in this." Pulling out of the parking lot, Lee looked in his rear view mirror and saw to his dismay; Saldez had climbed into a black two door Chevy and was now pulling out onto the street behind them. "Hang on, Amanda." He told her as he punched the accelerator. "It's going to get bumpy."

Turning to the west onto Front Street, Lee floored the sedan and maneuvered the heavy car around several slower moving vehicles. The smaller Chevy coupe was having little trouble catching them and keeping up.

"Lee, why is that man chasing us?" Amanda was struggling to keep the panic out of her voice as she looked apprehensively behind them at the car that was rapidly gaining on them. "I mean, he doesn't know who we are, does he?"

Lee clamped his lips tight for a moment before finally deciding to tell her the truth. "He knows me, Amanda." He answered, swinging wide and to the right on the next curve. "I almost nailed him in a sting operation about five years ago. He's bad news and I can promise you, if he's mixed up in this, then this thing is hotter than we thought."

Taking another wide swing, Lee barreled past a red Ford pickup, startling the blond driver, causing her to swerve dangerously close to the curb. "Lee, watch out." Amanda cried out, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw the woman regain control of her truck and get it straightened out.

Lee ignored her protest as well as the horn of the angry blond. He had to get away from Saldez. He knew what the man would do if he caught them. He might take chances with his own life, but not with Amanda's. Sweeping around another curve, he unknowingly passed a state trooper strategically hidden between a large billboard and a large clump of bushes.

As soon as Lee and his pursuer flew by, the trooper pulled out and picked up the chase. Saldez noticed the police cruiser and decided it would be prudent to let the Americans go and find them later. Taking the first road to his left, he pulled off and came to a stop, watching the cop as he closed in on the brown sedan.

Lee saw Saldez pull off just as he saw the trooper behind him. Actually glad for once to see law enforcement, Lee let off of the accelerator and was slowing down when a car pulled out of a side road directly in his path. Lee tried to dodge around it but the Buick didn't respond the way his Corvette would have.

He could do little as the Buick went into a swerve, hitting a huge boulder, sending the hapless vehicle into a large oak tree just off the side of the road. The hood of the crumpled remains of the Buick flew back against the shattered window shield, protecting the occupants of the car from the burning fluid from the busted radiator as it flew up and back.

The accident happened so fast, Amanda hadn't had time to cry out. Lee had been too busy trying to keep all four wheels on the ground to do more than reach for Amanda when he saw the car was beyond his control. When the sedan came to an abrupt halt against the massive trunk of the oak, Lee and Amanda both were thrown forward and then back in their seats.

Saved by his seatbelt, Lee was in fairly good shape but looking over at Amanda he saw she hadn't faired so well. Her seatbelt had failed and she had been thrown roughly against the window shield cracking her head severely against the glass before being violently whipped back in her seat. "Amanda!" Lee cried out in alarm as he reached across the seat towards her, his heart pounding at the sight of blood on her forehead. "Amanda, you okay?"

"Lee?" Amanda managed, giving him a pained and confused looked before succumbing to the darkness.

TBC