This is the third story in a series; strongly suggest you read the first two before this, because it continues without reintroduction of characters or circumstances. No sex among or in front of persons under 18 years of age.
End of part 2:
I swung the rifle to the climber.
He didn't like the open space, or maybe he didn't like the odds, because he hesitated with his right hand on top of the rock he was behind. I guess he decided to try, because his arm snaked over the top, his hand grasped the edge, and he lunged for the ledge he had to cross. The bullet caught him in the chest before he made it, and he tumbled backward onto the rocks.
"Any moving heat signatures?" I asked.
"No, Rob," Kaitlyn assured me. "Some are gone, and some are fading, but none are moving."
"Okay, give me the controls and let me bring it back and get it stowed away." She handed me the controls and asked what they should do now.
"Great job, everyone; I think the danger has been mitigated for the time being, but let's remain careful anyway; crouch down and go back in the house. Get your stuff together while I put the drone away. I'll grab my go bag, we'll get in the Jeep, and go meet Saguaro at Study Butte. We have a long drive ahead of us before we get to the Mountain Lair."
Saguaro was waiting in an armored Suburban. He said he'd run interference as needed, but the main group had turned at Marathon and would approach from the south, so with the smaller group routed, he felt we had free sailing through Alpine to Fort Davis and beyond. I asked if he had informed the others, and he told me that Chap's sources had verified the intel, so they were ready and waiting.
The kids were far too excited to sleep for the first forty miles, and they had myriad questions I couldn't or wouldn't answer with speculation. They finally played out, so Kaitlyn and I had forty miles to talk before we got to Alpine. With the kids sleeping, it was Kaitlyn's turn to ask myriad questions for which I had no answer.
"Truth is, Kaitlyn, all I know is a contract was let on you and our kids, and then I was added. We don't know who we are fighting or who is behind it, but the Escamilla Cartel let the contract. Have any idea why?"
"No, but I heard Chap say 'Reynaldo', and when the business started crumbling I heard Robert warn his lawyer that it would be very bad if they lost Reynaldo's money, and both of them sounded frightened."
"The feds say he was in a money laundering scheme with those guys. If he stole or lost their money, they will want it back, or his life in forfeit. They sometimes kill the family of the one who stole from them too, but I don't see why I would have been added. I didn't know anything about the money laundering or any accounts he might have with them.
"I turned his sorry ass in for embezzling on a grand skill, and for trying to force me to make deals with people and governments the US has on its list of terrorists or sponsors of terrorism.
"Anyway, hopefully we will learn more when we get there, but I don't think this is Reynaldo killing Robert's family, because he hasn't killed Robert yet."
My phone buzzed; Chap said, "That was quick; I assume your family is well, and the others are not?"
I assured him we were and they were not; he asked, "You did activate everything when you left, right?"
I assured him I had. "So, according to Coyote, you have a dozen propane bottles and twice that many IEDs along the road and around the base of the hill. We'll put our drone in the air after we get word the second bunch is on your road. Do you want us to send you the feed, or take care of it here?"
"Are you in a safe place, Carlos?"
"We're where we agreed, we have sniper cover on both sides, and we all have our dirt bikes, so we're good. You giving us the go?"
"I am, but only if you're absolutely safe. I can build a new house, but you clowns are hard to replicate."
"Okay,
Vato
, but one more thing; Guillermo has the BP on alert, helicopters and all. When your Disco show ends, we're gone and the legally constituted authorities will take over. Meanwhile, put
sus hijos y la guera bonita
into the bunker and keep them there. Hell, you too,
Pendejo
! Let the pros take care of this!"
"You know me; of course I will!"
"Mentiras! Hasta luego, amigo; tienes cuidado."
"Y tambien, amigos. Hasta la vista!"
***
We followed SH 17 though Alpine to a junction just south of Fort Davis, then turned north on SH 166. State Highway 166 wends through the desolate desert between Fort Davis and Valentine. Valentine is essentially a ghost town with 200 hardy souls and a famous post office. You can send your valentine cards to the post office and they will send them on to your loved one stamped "Valentine, Texas".
This is a very large, desolate area with little traffic. Fort Davis -- the town and the fort -- draw a lot of tourists and historians, as does Marfa, but 166 offers little in the way of scenery compared to 17, which continues on to 'the world's largest spring-fed swimming pool', or 118, which wend past MacDonald Observatory through some beautiful, forested passes and on to Van Horn.
There are few residents, because big chunks of the land are owned by absentee landowners who rarely visit, and even bigger chunks are inaccessible by automobile. Silverleaf Ranch is agood example, because after
El Gato
told me he had the perfect place for me, I had to fly over it in a helicopter to determine if an appropriate home site could be accessed among all the foothills, mountains, canyons, and creek beds.
On the entire mountainous 4-section/3200 acres, I only found three appropriate building sites, and two of them were, for my purposes, too close to the road. The site I chose was inaccessible except by air, foot, or horseback, but I could see from the helicopter that a road could be built along a westward sloping mesa to the tallest mountain, if you could bridge the final canyon. Fortunately, that canyon was deep but relatively narrow, being a watercourse rather than the result of erosion of the mountain and mesa.
A civil engineer --
Gato's
favorite from his days as a developer in the DFW area - willingly rode a horse up the mesa to the canyon with us. He looked everything over and concluded that a substantial road could be built, and the canyon could be cost-effectively spanned with an arch bridge that could sustain heavy vehicles.
The next day, the three of us landed the helicopter on my desired building site to determine whether a building of the size and substance I envisioned could be built there. Again, he concluded it could, but a lot of rock would have to be dug. Excited by the issues an engineer would face, and possibly light headed due to the high altitude and the beer we were drinking, he practically begged for the opportunity to engineer the projects, and we made a deal.
Then the fun started: we had to build a road capable of transporting heavy equipment and concrete trucks from the desert floor up a long, gently sloping, dirt and rock ramp onto the mesa, and thence up the mesa to that narrow final canyon. Erecting the arch bridge that could handle the heavy equipment and trucks across the 250-foot span proved to be more of an engineering and construction feat than Terry expected, but, with help from a helicopter and a suspension footbridge, they got it done.
Before the bridge was built, we drilled holes and blasted the area for the foundation of the house. After the bridge was in place, we built the rest of the road, got the site on the crown leveled, and THEN we started the excavation of the basement/bunker, and house above.
Fortunately, my investments and business interest were expanding faster than the cost, because lots of hardened concrete and steel went into the house, and even more went into the basement and bunker. Those materials weren't cheap, and neither was the expert labor; especially when you have to have men with expertise and discretion. The Brotherhood helped here, too.
Although there weren't many people around to wonder what was going on up here on the western side of the Davis mountains, the sheriff insisted early on that he and I have a conversation. It was a good conversation; although he knew me by reputation, he wanted to get to know me in person, in case his impression differed. We got along well.
Turns out mine isn't the only "survivalist" home in the area, and the fact that I belonge to "The Brotherhood" stood me in good standing with Sheriff Goodson, his deputies, and the DPS troopers, Park Rangers, and Border Patrol agents stationed around Balmorhea, Fort Davis, Marfa, and Alpine.
A metal rendering of the 'crossed lightning bolts' symbol of The Brotherhood is welded to the front of the top pipe on my gate. Most have no idea what it means, but a lot of people that matter, do.