Page 96 of Battle Mountain

Someone had jumped the gun on the fireworks display, she assumed.

A few of the Centurions apparently thought the same thing because they laughed out loud. The camp prefect on the stage paused for a moment and grinned and said, “Somebody up there is a little quick on the trigger tonight,” which produced a smattering of applause.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Joe was followingthe recently trodden path down from the summit in the near-dark when he heard what he recognized instantly as distant gunshots farther down the mountain. He stopped for a moment to listen. The popping continued, but it was punctuated with several throatyBOOMs that were unmistakable concussions from a .454 Casull.

It was getting dark, so he fitted his headlamp over his hat, turned it on, and picked up his pace.

There was no doubt that the people who had inhabited Summit had used the same trail he was on. He saw distinctive boot prints where the soil was soft, as well as three parallel knobby tire tracks from an ATV. He had no idea how long it would take for him to get to the ridge he’d seen on the aerial photo in the lobby, but judging from the sound of the gunshots, the ridge was still several miles away. He knew from experience that it was all but impossible to judge the distance of gunshots in the mountains, where their sound could carry for miles and bounce around and echo across the terrain.

Joe took a deep breath before trudging on. His hope had been to somehow get to the B-Lazy-U before the gunmen did. Now he knew he was too late.

—

He’d left Eiseleat Summit with Henry two hours before. He’d also left his Glock with Eisele, after telling the man to not hesitate to use deadly force to defend himself if any of Soledad’s people came back unexpectedly. They’d located two handheld radios in the comms room and Joe took one and kept the satellite phone. That way, Eisele could communicate with him if necessary as Joe marched up and over the mountain toward the ranch.

Before departing, Joe had called Kany in Warm Springs to explain the situation. She’d been absolutely stunned to hear what he had to say.

“Call off the search,” Joe had said. “At this point we no longer need it. But let Sheriff Haswell know what’s going on and ask him to put out the word to every LEO in a hundred-mile radius that they need to get here as fast as they can. We need bodies that are armed and briefed on the situation, and we need them there fast. I don’t know if we can prevent what’s about to happen, but we have to try. Do you have any contacts on the ranch itself?”

She’d said, “I’ve met the manager and I know a couple of the fishing guides. Do you want me to call them and warn them?”

Joe hadn’t responded immediately because he wanted to think it through. Would alerting the ranch management create a panic and make the situation worse? Would they even believe her? He wasn’t sure.

Then he’d said, “Yup, let them know and make sure the headCenturion, whoever that is, is fully briefed. They may have an emergency plan of some kind in place. Let’s hope so, at least.”

Kany said, “I’m calling them now,” and had disconnected the call.

The new satellite phone lit up several minutes later. “They didn’t pick up,” she’d said. “I tried the business office first, and then the cell number I have for the manager. They’re probably busy with the ceremony I told you about, and cell phone coverage is bad out there. But I can keep trying.”

“Keep trying,” Joe had said. “I’ll contact the governor.”

Which he had. As usual, Ann Byrnes had taken the call, since it came from a number she didn’t recognize, so she could screen it.

“I found Mark,” Joe had said. “He’s injured but alive. Spike Rankin was murdered by a pack of domestic terrorists who are about to unleash hell on the Centurion confab at the B-Lazy-U Ranch.”

For the first time since he’d met her, Byrnes was speechless.

Finally, she said, “We got a call an hour ago from the supervisor of the Wyoming FBI office. He said he’d talked to an agent out of D.C. who is on the ground there. This agent, Rick Orr, claimed the same thing you just told me. They’re in the process of putting together an attack team and they requested the use of three of our National Guard helicopters. The governor was skeptical, but he authorized their use.”

“When will they get here?” Joe had asked.

“I don’t know,” she’d said. “At least a couple of hours, I’d guess.”

“I hope that’s not too late.”

“Joe, the governor will besograteful to hear that Mark is okay. Maybe he can move back into the mansion now.”

Joe had grunted before disconnecting the call. Rulon moving back in with his wife and reconciling with his daughter was now the last thing on his mind.

Marybeth had answered on the first ring.

“I’m okay and I found Mark Eisele alive,” Joe had said. “But now I’ve got much bigger problems.”

“You need to find Nate,” Marybeth had responded. “He’s down there, you know.”

Joe hadn’t been surprised that his wife’s first thought was to team up with Nate. That wasalwaysher first response.

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