CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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“Holy crap!” cried out Ellie Limberhand into the cell phone.

“What is it?” Rainhorse replied, checking his watch. It was ten minutes before three o’clock.

“Two white vans just passed me, heading west on Blaine Street,” she said.

“Are the vans large enough to hold six girls?” Rainhorse asked.

“Yes, definitely, but that’s not the problem,” Ellie replied. “There are four full-sized pick-up trucks following the two white vans.  Each of the pickups has four to five men each in it.”

“That is more than I expected,” Rainhorse relayed.

“Many of those men in the pickups are white men,” she replied.

“Apollo’s men,” Rainhorse affirmed. “Do you see Apollo?”

“Wait a minute,” she replied, scanning the vehicles with her binoculars. “Yes, I see Apollo. He is with Hank Rattling Thunder and Joey Takoda, driving the first truck following the vans.”

“I was expecting that. Perfect,” Rainhorse said.

“Perfect?” Ellie boomed. “Are you out of your mind.”

“This means that both Apollo and HRT have brought their entire force with them,” he observed. “They have thrown everything they have into this operation.”

“Why you think that is good news is beyond me,” Ellie said. “I hope to hell you know what you’re doing. You’re one crazy Indian.”

“And this surprises you . . . how?”

“Oh crap,” she said. “More bad news. Two of the four rear pickups broke off in different directions. One of them turned south and one has turned north.”

“What about the one with Apollo, HRT and Takoda?”

“It’s still following the two vans,” she concluded.

“Good,” Rainhorse replied. “I expected this as well. They are going to take positions to block all possible exits for us. That is a good sign.”

“Enlighten me,” Ellie said. “How is that a good sign?”

“It means that they intend to make the exchange,” Rainhorse said. “They want Rose back, safely. They intend to recapture the women as we try to get away.”

“And this is what you were hoping for?” she asked.

“Correct.”

"We did not plan for this Rainhorse," she explained.

"I did," he replied. “This means Apollo will have no more than eight to ten men actually with him at the exchange.”

"That still doesn’t explain why you think this is good news. How do you plan on getting us all away?"

"Trust me," he said.

Ellie sighed, “They will be in your line of sight in about three minutes. Do you have the binoculars I got for you?”

“I do.”

“Then good luck my friend.”

“It has never been about luck, Ellie. You know that.”

“All the same.”

Rainhorse hung up and turned to Rose, “We are near to the moment of truth,” he said.  He pulled the bag completely off her head. She let out a war hoop and bit at him as he did so. She narrowly missed his little finger.

He raised his fist and glared at her.  She took one look at the formidable size of his clenched hand and froze.

She looked at her surroundings. She appeared to be in an abandoned building. The floors were concrete; the ceiling and walls unfinished.  There was lumber and building materials stacked about.

“Where are we?” Rose demanded to know.

Lindsay had identified the building as the best place to observe the arrival of Apollo and HRT. It was the third floor of an abandoned building near the farmer’s market, but he was not about to tell her where.

“We are in a secure place,” he said. “Your father and his scumbag friends will be pulling into the hardware store parking lot right about now. I will have a great view from here.”

“Where are your chicken shit bitches, Neha and the young girl?” she asked.

“In a very safe place,” he promised.

“My father will kill you,” she said.

“He may. It will not matter,” Rainhorse admitted. “My only concern at this point is getting Lona and the other girls back to their mothers.”

“You’re an idiot, Cheyenne,” she said. “Even if you make the exchange, they will have men all over town. You can’t get away.”

“I am guessing you are right,” he said.

“Then why . . . ?”

He pulled a bandanna and gagged her with it, before she could finish.

Rainhorse went to the window and used his binoculars to follow the course of the two vans and the truck following them into the hardware store parking lot. The business was closed, as it always was on Sundays. Since the store was close to the farmer’s market and the hardware store’s enormous parking lot was empty, many vendors parked their supply vehicles there. The vans pulled into the lot, past a forty-foot truck trailer, marked Ft. Peck Produce.  It was quite common for vendors to ship in food for the farmer’s market. Another produce trailer was parked across from the first. He was worried the second produce trailer might obstruct his view of HRT’s truck or the vans. He let out a slight sigh of relief when it did not.

The cell phone rang. Rainhorse answered.

“We are here,” Rattling Thunder said.

“I know. I am watching.”

“Where are you?”

“You will see me soon enough,” Rainhorse said. “Send out Lona and Ska and the other girls. I want to see that they are alive and unharmed.”

“Send out Rose first,” HRT asked.

“Not a chance,” Rainhorse rebuked.

“Let me talk to her,” HRT demanded.

“Fair enough,” the former Ranger replied. “Hold on.”

He put the phone on mute and walked over to Rose, “I want you to speak to your father. Tell him you are unharmed. If you make an attempt to tell him where you are by describing your position I will crack your skull open. Listen to me, Rose. You are very close to escaping this predicament unscathed. If you think about it, the only thing this will cost your father is a one-month supply of girls to sell. Let us make this nice and easy. Do not blow it. Understood?”

Rose nodded. Rainhorse pulled the gag away from her mouth and unmuted the phone, putting on the speakerphone setting so he could hear both ends of the conversation."

“You may talk to her now,” Rainhorse said.

“Baby, are you all right?” HRT asked.

“Yes, I am fine,” Rose replied. “He has not harmed me. “Let’s just get this over with. I want to get out of here.”

“Hang in there, Rose,” HRT said. “It will all be over soon.”

Rainhorse pulled the gag back over her mouth and took the phone off speaker, “Enough talk. Now show me Lona, Ska and the other girls.”

“You do not hurt my little girl,” HRT warned.

“That is up to you,” Rainhorse said. “Show me.”

Rainhorse looked through his binoculars and saw HRT nodding to Takoda.  Takoda put his hand on the handle of the side door of the first van. He opened it. Stepping out of the van first was Ska Red Feather.  She looked drugged and even more frail than he remembered but otherwise, ok. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Lona next.

It was the first time he’d ever seen Lona in person.  He knew her only from pictures. She appeared thinner than he imagined, but otherwise did not look abused. The remaining girls stepped out of the van, all looking frightened and confused.

“Ok, Cheyenne, you’re calling all the shots,” HRT said. “What now?”

“Tell Lona, Ska and the other girls to all walk toward the farmer’s market at the Town Pump Food Store.”

“Bring me Rose first,” HRT demanded.

“No,” Rainhorse responded. “You let the girls go, and I will bring you Rose, unharmed.”

HRT chuckled, “Why would I believe you?”

“I came here to reunite Lona with her mother and set the other girls free,” the former Ranger said. “I have no other ulterior motive.  I see Apollo is there with you. Can he hear me?”

“Yeah, I can hear you,” Apollo said. “We ain’t doin’ that.”

“I will sweeten the deal, then,” Rainhorse said. “This is a one-time offer. You let Lona and the other girls go and I will bring Rose to you unharmed. Plus, I will give you a bonus—I will give you what you really want.”

“A bonus, huh,” Apollo repeated. “What do you think I really want?”

“Me.”

There was a pause . . .

“You?”

“Yes. I will lay down my gun and turn myself over to you.”

“You would give yourself up?” Apollo questioned. "Why?"

"I am the one you really want," Rainhorse said. "I figure if I turn myself over to you, you might leave Neha and Lona alone. I want your word that once you have me, this is over. You will never bother Lona or Neha again."

"Why should I believe you?" Apollo asked.

“I will swear an oath on the spirits of my ancestors,” Rainhorse said. “If you release the young girls, I will bring Rose to you unharmed and I will lay down my weapon and turn myself over to you to do with me what you will. I will not resist.”

Apollo paused, looking at Rattling Thunder. Rainhorse could see him mulling things over. Finally, “I don’t know. I do want your Cheyenne ass, that’s for sure.”

“Think about it, Apollo,” Rainhorse urged. “All those men of yours I have killed, all the trouble I have caused you.  You can have me.”

There was another pause. He could almost hear the wheels turning in Apollo’s head. Rainhorse continued, “Once the girls have reached the end of the parking lot, I will emerge with Rose,” Rainhorse said. “You will be able to see me and her.”

“Dammit,” Apollo exclaimed. “This doesn’t smell right.”

“Tell him Rattling Thunder,” Rainhorse said.

Rattling Thunder put the phone on mute.

“The Cheyenne will not break his oath,” he said to Apollo. “He did not hurt the twins. He has not hurt Rose. I believe him. I must have my daughter back, unharmed, and I want him as badly as you do.”

Apollo sighed and scratched his head, “I don’t know. This man is so fucking dangerous. He’s cooking up something. I can smell it.”

“You know you want the Cheyenne,” HRT added. “We will lose one month of activity. We can absorb it. You know this. With the Cheyenne off our backs, things will go back to like they were before.”

“Ok, dammit,” Apollo barked, “but I’m holding you accountable, HRT.”

Hank Rattling Thunder nodded and unmuted the phone, “Ok, Cheyenne, we promise we will never bother Neha and Lona again.”

“Swear on the spirits of your ancestors,” Rainhorse demanded.

“I so swear,” Rattling Thunder replied. “I am sending the women to the farmer’s market . . . now.”

“As soon as I see them, I am on my way,” Rainhorse promised.

HRT nodded to Takoda, who in turn nodded to his men.

The girls, including Lona and Ska, all began walking, slowly at first, forward toward the market. They looked scared to death. When they reached the edge of the parking lot, Rainhorse appeared. There was a cinch attached to his left wrist and one to the right wrist of Rose, securing the two to each other. Rainhorse did not want Rose trying to break free and making a run for it.  He didn’t believe HRT would risk taking a shot at him with Rose so close to him.

He waved at HRT.  He and Apollo both saw him, now walking toward them.  Apollo held his hand up. None of his men made a move.  He looked back toward the girls. They had nearly made their way to the market. He saw Lona making eye contact with Neha, who was waiting at the market. Lona began to cry and ran toward her mother. They embraced.  She then saw Neha do exactly what he asked her to do, which was to save the reunion celebration and sweep Lona away into the crowd. Lindsay met Ska and did the same thing.  Ellie Limberhand and three other women she trusted met the other girls and shuttled them away quickly.

Rainhorse continued to move forward toward Apollo and Hank Rattling Thunder. Whatever was going to happen would happen. He had done most of what he came to do.  The rest was inevitable, whether he lived to see it or not.

He counted ten guns trained on him, aimed from HRT’s men, as he approached. No one said a thing—they just watched him and Rose get closer and closer.

When he and Rose were fifteen feet away, Rainhorse stopped.  He stooped and gently placed his gun on the rough blacktop of the parking lot and pulled a knife from his pocket. He cut the tether that bonded his and Rose’s wrists. She bolted toward her father and fell into his arms. Hank Rattling Thunder was in tears.

Rainhorse tossed the knife to the ground and raised his hands in surrender.

Apollo began to laugh and walked toward him, “Well, well, you actually did it, Cheyenne,” said Apollo.  “I had my doubts, I have to admit. I really wondered.”

“A deal is a deal,” Rainhorse said. “I am here, unarmed as I promised. The girls are being reunited with their families as we speak. I am prepared for whatever fate awaits me.”

“Oh, you have no idea what awaits you, Cheyenne,” Apollo said, walking toward Rainhorse. “I am going to cause you pain in more ways than you can imagine for all the trouble you caused me.”

Rainhorse shrugged, “If that is the price that must be paid.”

“Oh, it is,” Apollo answered, a wide, evil grin spreading across his face, “and there’s more.”

“More?” Rainhorse repeated.

“I have all the exits leading out of town blocked, Chief,” Apollo snapped, turning red with rage, his face coming to within an inch of Rainhorse’s.

“What?” Rainhorse responded. “You mean . . .”

“I’m getting them all back . . . today!” he screamed, pointing his finger in Rainhorse’s face. “Lona will be back in my hands within the hour. I don’t give a damn about that meth whore, Ska. I never did. Lona is worth more than the rest combined. I want Lona, and I will have her, and the others, too.”

Rainhorse saw HRT helping Rose get into the truck. HRT gave her a peck on the cheek, closed the door and moved back toward where he and Apollo were standing.

“You are not keeping your word to me?” Rainhorse said.

“I said I’d let them go,” Apollo replied, smugly. “I did.”

“We said nothing about not getting them back,” HRT said, joining the conversation. He started chuckling.

“You thought you were so damn smart,” Apollo whispered loudly. “I was not about to allow you to rob me of my payday. I own this fucking reservation.”

HRT looked at Rainhorse. He studied the expressionless look on the former Ranger’s face. He looked around him, then back at Apollo.

“Something is wrong,” Rattling Thunder whispered.

“What’s wrong?” Apollo asked.

“The Cheyenne doesn’t seem all that upset at the news we are recovering the girls,” he replied.  He looked at Rainhorse, “What are you up to?”

Rainhorse shrugged, “Nothing. I am here, unarmed, as I promised.”

Apollo looked at Rainhorse, studying the Cheyenne’s stone-faced expression and cool demeanor.

“You’re right,” Apollo said to HRT. “Something is wrong.” He noticed a tiny bit of metal peeking out of the Cheyenne’s shirt pocket. He grabbed it. It was his burner cell phone, an older flip model.

“What’s this?” he asked Rainhorse, pulling the phone from his pocket. “Is this on? Who is listening to us?”

Rainhorse looked to the sky. Apollo looked up as well—so did HRT.

“What the hell are we looking at?” Apollo snarled.

“Not looking . . . listening. Wait for it,” Rainhorse whispered. A tiny smile formed on his face.

“Wait for what?”

Apollo looked at Rainhorse and shook his head, smiling, exposing all of his capped teeth. He began to chuckle.

“What are you laughing at?” HRT asked.

“Us,” Apollo replied. “I’m laughing at us.”

“Why?” HRT asked.

“Because we’re fucked, that’s why,” he whispered harshly.