LITMIR.BIZ

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awfully big tracks to be seen from up here. What are you looking for? Big Foot?”

      I decided I’d be better off studying the inside the copter. I had to work with these guys. I bet I could learn a thing or two before we touched down. I studied the men. Roscoe was intense and focused. I had the feeling that being rescued by him was more like a forklift operation. He was big, well muscled and very quiet. He preferred to be in the background. Landon was more easy going. He was lean and had a friendlier look to him. He would be the one talking to victims, calming them down while Roscoe tended to the real threat. They would make a good team together. Victor Gomez was all business, right now, but I suspected he hid a quick wit and a sharp eye. He looked like someone I could identify with. Not much slipped by him. He took things in and contemplated how things fit together, and I bet when he finally did speak, people listened. I was guessing, if Lou had one of these guys laying my test trail, Victor was the guy. He fit the tracks and his manner fit the way the trail had been laid out. Thez was the odd man out. All around good guy. What did that mean? And what kind of a name was Thez? He was tall, just a hair shorter than Lou, and it was because Lou had hair on top of his head. Thez was beginning to bald on top. He talked with his hands a lot. He was animated and alert. Gordon Thompson was older. He had been at his job a while and he was seasoned to it. He knew what he was getting into. He looked like a stabilizer for the group.

      “So, Cassidy, what got you into our rag tag motley crew?” Thez asked.

      “Mostly Rusty Michaels. He thought this would keep me out of trouble.”

      “Oh yeah? You’re kidding. Out of trouble?”

      Lou broke in. “Thez, if you knew what she’s been through you’d think so too. I talked to Michaels. Nuff said.”

      “I don’t care if they know. Rusty would think they should know since they have to work with me. So much has happened, though, I wouldn’t know where to start.”

      This got looks. Oh boy, were they going to have fun with me. Thez seemed to be the group social director so he started it off.

      “Okay, well, since this is to keep you out of trouble, tell us the scariest thing that’s happened to you.”

      “The scariest? As in fear or as in most dangerous?”

      “Either. It’s just a question to get you going so answer whichever you want.”

      “Well, the car bomb in Afghanistan was right up there, but that was years ago. Recently, I was hunted by drug dealers through the Angeles forest. It was dangerous because I had to follow a trail and it was wide open to sharp shooters. See, when Kelly Green disappeared it was because he ran into drug dealers up in the mountains. They shot him and dumped him over a cliff. So when I tracked him down I ran into the drug dealers, too. I lucked out. They dumped me over the cliff, then shot at me so it wasn’t so bad for me. After the rescue crew hauled Kelly off to the hospital I went back to do some surveillance on the drug lab. I didn’t know it, but they knew I was there and so they were looking for me. They caught up with me on the trail and it turned into a hunt. They were supposed to bring me back to their boss and I knew he’d kill me if I went back, so I wasn’t cooperating. They were hunting me with these high-powered rifles through the woods and I had to cross this big bare mountain. That was pretty scary, I guess. Yeah, dodging bullets is never fun and kind of scary. Actually the scariest thing I have felt was when I thought Rusty was going to stop me from going after Kelly. He didn’t want me to go alone and I couldn’t not go. I couldn’t leave Kelly out there if there was a chance I could find him. So really, that was the most scared I have ever been.”

      “You went after Green alone?” Lansky asked.

      “Yeah, I’d never worked with a team before. I’ve always been kind of a loner in the woods.”

      They were all quiet. They looked at Lou for confirmation. All he had to do was nod.

      “Have you been on any other rescue runs?” Thez asked trying to keep things going on a safer level.

      “Not organized ones like this. I have done a little tracking for Rusty. I found Manuel Silva after the police lost him. That just kind of happened by accident because Rusty didn’t know I could track at the time. Once I found a lost boy scout but I just happened to be nearby and heard he was lost, so I asked for a starting point and tracked him three miles through the Angeles Forest. Then there was the time I rescued my nephew when the drug boss kidnapped him. He was pissed off at me for messing up his drug lab in the Angeles Forest. I guess the police went in later and closed it down and he blamed me. He was nutso, wanted to hunt me like an animal, took my gun away and turned me and Patrick loose. It was run or die so I ran, hid Patrick where searchers could find him and then I had to bring Peccati in without any firearms. I tricked him by leading him into a trap and he lost his rifle in the scuffle. I ended up in a boxing match with him until I could find his rifle and hold him for the police. I guess that was another one of my scarier moments.”

      Silence again.

      “So,” Thez said, “Does anything normal happen to you?”

      “Only for short periods of time.”

      My stomach did a little flip flop as the helicopter descended and then settled on top of a hill. Everybody hopped out and gathered in a group away from the blades. We hiked down the hill for a short distance until the noise level decreased.

      “Lansky, Landon take care of the plane. The radio call into the station said a small plane spotted one passenger making his way northeast from the crash site. Why he went northeast I have no idea, the area is rocks and buttes. Seems to me like he’d head downhill, looking for a road. Victor and Thez, stay with Cassidy. Cassidy, stay on the passenger’s trail.”

      I followed the group down and around the base of the hill. Lou was sticking to me like glue. I think Rusty must have told him about Jack. He wanted to gauge my reaction. He also needed to keep things under control. I meant to keep my feelings under wraps but I still felt a wave of nausea when we rounded the corner and saw the plane, debris scattered over a couple of acres of land. The tail section was intact but the cockpit had crushed into the main body of the plane. The debris was mostly the wings, having been sheared off by some small trees dotting the landscape. I stood silently until the nausea had passed and I could clear my head.

      Focus on the job, Cass. Find a trail leading away from the plane. Don’t look at the cockpit. It’s not your job. I set my mind to the task at hand and trekked around the hill. Casting around on the ground, it wasn’t hard to find the tracks. One man had left the plane. One man… and something else.

      I looked at Lou then started for the plane but he stepped in. He knew I wouldn’t go to the plane without a reason. He stopped me, understanding that it was something Rusty would have done.

      “What is it Cassidy?”

      “I need to see something…Okay, I don’t need to see it. I need something confirmed.”

      “What is it?”

      I showed him the tracks I found in the sand. Huge dinner-plate sized cat paw prints.

      “This isn’t a mountain lion,” I said. “I’ve seen a few mountain lion tracks. Never seen a mountain lion. The tracks come from the direction of the tail.”

      “Thez, look in the plane. Tell us what you see.”

      Thez trotted over to the plane and glanced in. He crawled in through a gaping hole in the side. There was a short wait and he came out with two rifles and handed one to Lou.

      “Those aren’t ordinary rifles.” I observed. “What did you see, Thez?”

      “There’s a big cage back there, empty.”

      I checked the rifle over carefully. “These rifles are loaded with tranquilizer darts. I hope our missing passenger thought to bring one of these with him.”

      Lou got on his radio to talk to the guys in the cockpit. “Heads up guys. We’ve got a large cat on the loose. Keep your eyes open.”

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