Part 37 (1/2)
s.h.i.+t. s.h.i.+t. Nathan had nothing to fire at, not that he would shoot if he did. What could he do? He could only think of one way to proceed. To know for sure whom he was taking down. He dropped the rifle, pulled the serrated combat knife from the sheath on his belt, and began clawing his way up the riverbank.
He stayed quiet when he reached the top, listening for signs of struggle. Nothing. He was edging forward with the knife held in front of him when a pair of strong hands grabbed his wrist, immobilizing the knife, while another pair wrestled him to the ground from behind.
”Nathan!” said a vaguely familiar voice. ”G.o.d d.a.m.n it, Nathan. Chill the f.u.c.k out. We're on your side. Keira and Owen are fine.”
”Where are they?” he said, fighting to shake free. ”Who are you?”
”It's Sergeant Graves. I'm kind of hurt you didn't recognize my voice.”
It all came back to him in an instant. Graves had operated the armored vehicle's countermeasures systems when they had been attacked by Cerberus on Interstate 8.
”I remember,” said Nathan, letting go of the knife.
The grip on his hand released as soon as the knife hit the ground.
”Where are Keira and Owen?”
”They're close,” said Graves, pulling Nathan to his feet. ”We didn't know how you'd react, so we kept them quiet.”
Nathan sat up. ”You could have just announced your presence. Would have been a whole lot easier.”
”We could barely see your outline with the thermals. Cantrell didn't want to risk the possibility of you shooting first and asking questions later.”
”Staff Sergeant Cantrell? He's here, too?”
”At your service,” announced a nearby voice. ”I have your wife and son right here.”
”I can't see any of you,” said Nathan.
Someone b.u.mped into him.
”Dad?”
”Hey, buddy. You had me worried there for a minute.”
”I thought Mom was dead,” said his son. ”I thought you were dead, too.”
He grabbed Owen and hugged him. ”We're fine, Owen. Just like I promised.” He felt Keira's arm on their son's shoulder. Nathan pulled her in tight and held both of them for a few moments.
”You all right?” he whispered in her ear.
”As long as we don't have to get back into that SUV.”
”I had something a little more robust in mind,” said Cantrell. ”Let's get you and your family inside my vehicle. David should be there already.”
”Clean air?” said Keira.
”Purified. Filtered. Smells like the mountains,” said Cantrell.
”Sounds good to me,” she said.
They started back, following the spotlight like a beacon.
”Staff Sergeant,” said Nathan. ”How did you find us?”
”A little birdie told us you took a detour.”
”You have an informant in one of the SUVs?” said Keira.
”No. Nothing like that. I can't really talk about it,” said the Marine.
”Did you come through Wikieup?” said Nathan.
”You didn't hear us?”
”Jesus,” replied Nathan. ”Sounded like a small war going on out there.”
”That's just what it was. The cartel had at least fifty guys out there waiting for you with RPGs, heavy machine guns-all kinds of crazy s.h.i.+t. Everything but thermal-imaging scopes. We put them down pretty quick.”
”Good,” said Owen.
”We'll drive through again and mop up anyone that survived the first pa.s.s. You're welcome to control the gun turret, Owen. Just like a video game,” said Graves from somewhere to their immediate left.
”Yeah. That's not going to happen,” said Keira.
Interestingly, their son didn't protest.
”You all right, bud?” said Nathan, squeezing his hand.
”I just want to go home,” said Owen in a quiet voice.
”Me, too,” said Nathan. ”When we get to Las Vegas, we'll work on finding a new home.”
”I don't want a new home.”
”I know, sweetie,” said Keira. ”But we can't go back to California right now. We'll make our new home big enough for Grandma and Grandpa. How does that sound?”
”And a pool,” added Nathan.
CHAPTER 60.
David crouched in the rear compartment of the Marine armored vehicle, leaning against one of the automated harness systems and taking deep breaths of the purified air, forcing it out of his nose to clear his nasal pa.s.sages. The effort was futile. He'd taste this dust for days.
”Good to see you again, Captain!” yelled Corporal Reading.
He was seated in the vehicle systems operator position, behind the driver, operating the turret remotely with a joystick. The center screen embedded in the back of the driver's seat displayed a slowly panning thermal image of their surroundings. No wonder they'd been able to find Nathan so easily. They had probably tracked him with thermal imagery all the way to the river.