Page 4 of Battle Mountain

Nate believed that her name was Bethany and that she’d known Axel from before. And that Axel had the ability to talk Bethany into coming with him. He had that kind of charisma. But Nate didn’t believe she was telling the truth. There was no way she didn’t have a clue about what the man was involved in.

“Where did Axel find those two goons?” Nate asked, gesturing with the muzzle of his .454 to the first floor.

“Constantine and J.R.?” she said. “Denver. I really didn’t know them very well,” she added quickly. “I mean, I saw them around on the streets during rallies and shit like that, but we weren’t close. They’re not my type, you know? And I really didn’t like it that Axel left me here with them. All they did was get high, shoot guns, and sleep all day. So what do you want with Axel?”

“I want to kill him,” Nate said.

“Oh.”

“You don’t sound surprised.”

“Axel has a lot of enemies,” Bethany said.

Nate lowered both weapons and slid his .454 into its shoulder holster. “If he comes back, tell him Nate Romanowski was here. He’ll know why.”

Bethany indicated that she understood. “I’ve heard that name before. Probably from Axel.”

“Probably.”

Nate felt a little bad about scaring her. She was a dim bulbfrom Axel’s past and likely one of the street people Axel collected, but that was no reason to put her through more torment. As far as he knew, Bethany hadn’t been part of Soledad’s murder spree the previous months.

With a quick nod of his head, Nate indicated that they were done, and he turned for the open door.

That’s when he heard the distinctivesnick-snickof a revolver being cocked. Without hesitation, he threw himself to the left as she fired at him, and a bullet slammed into the opposite wall of the hallway where his head had just been.

In a single motion, he half spun and dropped and fired the Judge beneath his left armpit, taking off the top of Bethany’s head and painting the wall behind her. But not before they locked eyes for a split second.

—

With his earsringing from the gunfire, Nate went back down the stairs. He found a plastic bottle of kerosene in a utility closet and emptied it on the hardwood floor. Then he lit the curtains on fire at each downstairs window and exited the building.

As he strode toward the river, the lodge behind him went up quickly. He could hear the fire popping as it consumed the pine paneling and climbed the staircase where Bethany’s body lay. When he turned around near the bend of Piney Creek, the entire structure was engulfed in flames.

Nate didn’t bother to pull on the waders when he entered the creek this time. The icy water stung him and soaked through his clothing. Almost as an afterthought, he tossed the Judge handgun to the side and let it sink to the smooth river rocks of the creek.

—

It didn’t feelgood. It didn’t feel right. Three dead, including a woman by his own hand, and no Axel Soledad. They’d all been armed and dangerous, and the woman had fired at him. But he’d invaded their privacy, and a case could be made that each had responded in self-defense.

Noneof it would have happened if he hadn’t forced the situation on them. He felt dirty, guilty, and bitterly confused.

And he felt inept and thug-like. He’d looked into Bethany’s eyes and closely watched her emotions play out along with her words. Not once had he picked up the tell that she was gripping a handgun under the sheets and waiting for him to turn his back. Not until that last nanosecond when he looked back at her before pulling the trigger did he see true violence in her eyes.

Nate tried to hold himself together until he got back to his Jeep.

As he approached it, he saw the outlines of two of his falcons perched on top of the back seat. Despite the fact that they wore leather hoods, he could feel their contempt for him.

He was ashamed of himself, and he asked himself out loud what he’d become.

Before climbing into his Jeep, he reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and withdrew his cell phone. He’d left it turned off because he didn’t want to be tracked and he didn’t want to be reached by anyone, either. The device was his last real connection to the modern world.

Which was why he propped it up in the elbow branch of a nearby tree and obliterated it with two rounds from his .454.

He’d never been in such a dark place before. But he knew where he might seek out light.

—

Five days later,FBI Special Agent Rick Orr walked through the compound accompanied by a sheriff’s department deputy and the local coroner. The light snowfall created a hush and the flakes sifted through the tightly packed trees that bordered the buildings. His primary escort was Laurie Urbigkit, a local large-animal veterinarian who also served as the coroner for Sublette County, Wyoming. The deputy faded away back to his SUV to take a call on his cell phone.

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