Texas Outlaw (Rory Yates #2) - James Patterson Page 0,76

the tanker truck, which probably weighs twenty thousand pounds, might collapse the slope and send the truck rolling downhill.

And even if we could make the drive, Dale says that McCormack’s men will be positioned at all the roads going into and out of the open space. On the drive today, before he went into the hills, he’d been privy to all the radio chatter among the men.

“It might not be but two or three guys at each place,” he says, “but they’re going to have AR-15s and TEC-9s and God only knows what else. I know you’re good with that peashooter of yours, Rory, but I don’t think you’ve got the firepower to go up against a couple of guys with fully automatic weapons.”

With my pistol, two rifles, and the shotgun still in my storage box, that’s a pretty good portable arsenal a Texas Ranger hauls around. But the last thing I want to do is get into a firefight with some ex-military mercenaries, especially with the lives of Dale and Ariana at stake. There has to be another way. Bloodshed should be a last resort.

It’s tricky. McCormack and his men don’t know where we are—at least not precisely—but now we can’t leave the open space without running across one of their traps.

“They don’t figure you made it out of the Rio Lobo area,” Dale says to Ariana. “So now they’re going to tighten the noose and see if they can squeeze you out.”

“If Chief Harris is in on it,” I say, “he’ll tell law enforcement to keep an eye out for my truck. They’ll know soon enough I haven’t left town, either.”

To further complicate our problems, Dale says that if he doesn’t show up at McCormack’s ranch soon, he’ll at least need to find a place with cell service so he can call and give him an excuse.

“I’ll tell him I’ve got a flat tire and that I won’t be there till morning.”

“What about tracking devices?” I say. “Are there any on the truck?”

“Not that I know of,” Dale says. “But it ain’t gonna be hard to figure out where I am. If they ain’t able to get me on the radio or the phone, there ain’t but one place I can be.”

As we talk, I feel claustrophobic. We’re standing in wide-open country, but I feel like walls are closing in around us.

“If we can’t get out,” I say, “we’re going to have to bring someone in to help us.”

“You think Tom and Jessica can help?” Ariana asks. “You think they can get in here without arousing suspicion?”

I don’t want to involve the Aarons. It’s too dangerous, and I’ve already put them at risk enough.

Unfortunately, the person I have in mind is someone I don’t trust nearly as much as Tom and Jessica Aaron.

My lieutenant—Kyle Hendricks.

Chapter 81

I USE A flashlight and do my best to look for a tracking device of some kind on the tanker. When I’m satisfied there isn’t one, Dale and I leave Ariana to guard the tanker truck. I hate to abandon her, but both Dale and I need to make phone calls and she’s the only one left to keep an eye on the truck and the evidence inside.

We drive south, heading the way Dale came in. I haven’t been this direction in the open space yet, and before long the hills start to flatten and the roadway smooths out. I turn my lights off and do my best to drive by moonlight. The desert hills are pale in the darkness, and the roadway is a clear corridor through the sagebrush and cacti.

Dale says we have about one more mile before we get to the highway—and McCormack’s roadblock—and I feel anxious that we’re not going to get a signal before his men see us. But we keep checking our phones and finally discover we have one bar.

I park the truck and let Dale make the first call.

“Hey, boss,” he says. “I’ve had some bad luck.”

He tells McCormack the elevator in the tunnel was malfunctioning, and he had to climb down via ladder and carry up the whole load, just two or three kilos at a time.

“Then I’ll be damned if I didn’t blow a tire as soon as I got on the road,” Dale says.

He looks nervous in the moonlight, but he is able to keep his voice calm.

“I think he bought it,” Dale says afterward. “Your turn.”

I try to mentally prepare myself for this call. Kyle and I have been butting heads since