Thanksgiving Protector. Sharon Dunn
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Mexicans across the border for a fee, to leave people to die if they feared getting caught.
The door wasn’t locked. That was a good sign.
Kylie pulled her gun while Austin flung the door open.
She let out her breath, whispering a prayer of gratitude when there were no dead bodies, no rotting stench.
Austin crawled inside, shining his light all over. “Let’s see if we can find anything that indicates this is the van Garcia came over in.”
Vans like this were used all the time by cartels for a variety of reasons. It would be a waste of manpower for Forensics to go over it if it couldn’t be clearly and directly linked to a crime, preferably directly to Garcia. Kylie crawled in as well, lifting seat cushions and checking the glove compartment. Chances were the van was stolen, so tracking it back to the owner might be a dead end.
Again she thought she spotted a flash of light out of the corner of her eye, but when she stared through the windshield, she saw only the bushes and hills behind them. Her heart beat a little faster. She talked to calm her nerves. “So have there been any more sightings of Garcia’s sister, the one he wants dead?”
Austin pulled a panel out of the van and shone his light inside it. “Nothing new. We know Adriana got across the border. We know she’s hiding from her brother. All of that we know because of Carmen.” Austin’s voice faltered at the mention of the female ranger’s name.
Carmen Alvarez was deeply embedded in the Garcia drug cartel. After relaying the message about the date—but not the location—of Garcia’s crossing, Carmen had not been in communication with the team. Kylie knew the other rangers were worried about their fellow officer. It had been Valentina who had provided them with the place of Garcia’s crossing. Her one last courageous act.
“I’ve got drug residue in here.” Austin rubbed his fingers together. “That’s enough to take it in. Even if it doesn’t link back to Garcia, it could open something up on a different case.”
Austin jumped out of the van.
Kylie climbed out as well, remembering something she’d noticed in one of the surveillance photos. She moved toward the back bumper of the van. “The paint is scraped off here just like in the photo.”
In the dusk of evening, Austin shone his flashlight on where Kylie pointed. “Good work. I’d say this was the van Garcia used.” He clicked off his light and turned a half circle. “Let’s see if we can figure out where these guys went.”
Kylie located the tracks leading away from the van. “Three men, steady and quick in their steps. Headed northeast.” She increased her pace, still shining the light on the ground. “I wonder when they got picked up. If it was Garcia, I can’t see him suffering the indignity of walking too far.” She hurried toward the brush where some of the grass had been flattened. “Looks like they sat down to wait about here.”
She loved this part of the job, reading the tracks. At the academy, they called it cutting sign, a skill border patrol picked up from Native American tribes.
Lights flashed off to the side, unmistakable this time. Gunfire cut through the night. Kylie’s eardrums hurt from the blast coming so close to her. Austin’s arms went around her, leading her away from the brush and the direction the shot had come from.
Both of them dove to the ground and crawled commando-style toward the horses. Another shot whizzed over them close to Kylie.
Kylie’s heart raged against her rib cage. She could see the silhouette of the horses up ahead. More gunfire tore up the ground in front of her. She gasped but kept moving.
They were close enough to hear the metal bridle parts clinking as the horses, agitated by the shots, jerked their heads up and down. Kylie and Austin rose to their feet and sprinted the remaining distance.
Both of them mounted up and spurred the horses into a gallop. Off to the side, she saw the lights from someone following them on an ATV.
Another rifle shot zinged through the air. Kylie’s horse reared up. She held on, tightening the reins. More gunfire. The horse reared again and overbalanced, falling to the ground. Kylie’s leg was pinned under the weight of the animal.
The roar of the approaching ATV assaulted her ears.
She fought to free herself as the horse struggled to get back up. The horse got to its feet and galloped away, uninjured but frightened by the gunfire.
Austin helped her to stand. She was on autopilot as she rose to her feet. Her leg hurt, but she didn’t think anything was broken. An image of Mercedes’s sweet face flashed through her head. She had to stay alive for that baby.
Austin had already mounted up again. He held out his hand. “Why is he only shooting at you?”
“I’m not sure.” She stuck her foot in the stirrup and swung on behind him wrapping her arms around his waist.
There was no time to radio in. This spot was far away from everything and everyone. Backup couldn’t get out here fast enough anyway. They were on their own with an assassin nipping at their heels.
* * *
As Kylie’s arms wrapped tight around his waist, Austin could hear the ATV gaining on them. The guy was using a rifle and clearly had some sniper skills, but he’d have to stop to touch off another round. Aiming a rifle required two free hands.
Plus, shooting a moving target from another moving target would be a challenge even for a highly trained sniper.
If the guy was willing to hunt them down like this, the assault wasn’t just about scaring them away from the van.
In the fading light, Austin scanned the terrain up ahead. The horse could go places where an ATV would struggle. He headed toward the foothills where the ground would be rocky. The nimble horse skirted through the boulders.
Kylie rested her head against his shoulder. Judging from how tightly she held on, she was still afraid. Like the good agent she was, she held it together. The sound of the ATV dimmed as he made his way into deeper, thicker brush.
He could no longer hear the ATV, but that didn’t mean the man wasn’t tracking them on foot. The man had either been lying in wait by the van or had followed them out, waiting for the time when they were most vulnerable and farthest away from backup for a targeted killing. All the more reason to think the van was most likely used by Garcia.
The horse slowed as anything resembling a trail disappeared. The thick brush hid them well but also made it hard to make progress.
Austin dismounted and pulled the horse along. His ears tuned in to every sound.
“I should get down too,” Kylie said. “The tall brush provides some cover.”
Austin nodded. It bothered him that the shooter had only fired at Kylie as though this was personal. Carmen had told the team that Garcia had vowed to kill any ranger or agent who got in his way. Why hadn’t this sniper taken shots at him, too?
Something rustled in the brush behind them. Kylie pressed close to him. The noise died away. Could be a nocturnal animal.
They worked their way through the brush and out into the open desert before radioing for help. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw intermittent lights moving toward them from where they had just escaped. They were still being pursued.
“We better mount up. Help will meet us at the road.”
Kylie swung on again. The warmth of her touch permeated his shirt where she wrapped her arms around him.
“Watch behind us and let me know if he’s getting too close. We’ll find a hiding place and ambush him.” He spurred the horse into a gallop. They rode hard until the horse tired, and he slowed into a canter.
After some time had passed, Kylie spoke over his shoulder. “I don’t see lights anymore. He must have given up.”
A ranger with a