Chapter Fourteen
Thankfully, the Black Hawk waiting at the fairgrounds was large enough to carry the entire Safe Haven team and their weapons to Yellowstone National Park. The state police, county sheriff’s department and the National Guard had been alerted and were on their way. Some of the county sheriff’s deputies were there, herding tourists out of harm’s way.
Garner was on the radio with Hack and the county sheriff the entire way there, keeping apprised of the situation. As they approached a field close to the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, Garner turned to the others.
“There are approximately twenty heavily armed Free America members at the visitors center. Ten inside and ten outside.” Garner stared at the four men. “Since they don’t have a SWAT team available or on-site, I’ve asked if they would like for our highly trained combat team to be the ones to go in and neutralize the situation. Right now, they have a hostage negotiator working with the FA people.”
“What do they want?”
“They want to make a big splash in the news. They’ve asked for news teams from the big networks. When they’re done making their speech, they want helicopters to take them to the border of US and Canada. Only then will they release the hostages.”
“Seventeen unarmed hostages and twenty bad guys armed to the teeth?” T-Rex shook his head. “Even they can’t be serious. That’s a transportation nightmare. And Canada will refuse to allow them in. They have to know they are on a suicide mission.”
Garner’s lips pressed into a thin line. “My bet is they’ll wait until the news teams are in place and then they’ll make their big announcement and martyr themselves and their captives.”
“Should we wait and see if they can negotiate the release of the hostages?” Caveman asked. “We’re not in the Middle East. If we go storming in, there could be civilian casualties.”
Garner nodded. “If we go in, we have to go in stealth mode. We can’t go in shooting from the hip and raising hell.” He touched his headset. “Hold on. Hack’s talking.”
He bent his head and cupped his hand over his headset, nodding as he listened. When he glanced up, he smiled. “They’ve released eight children.”
“Was that all of the kids?”
“The park rangers seem to think they were all part of a ranger-led group. There were eight children, six women and a ranger in the group.”
T-Rex leaned forward. “Did they release any of the women?”
Garner nodded again. “Two women, identified as mothers, were released with the children. They kept four of the women, the ranger, vice president and Grady Morris.” His gaze captured T-Rex’s. “They said they’d start shooting captives if they don’t get those news crews in the next fifteen minutes. They’ll start with the women.”
T-Rex cursed and willed the helicopter to land faster. He understood the need to touch down out of range of the terrorists and potential rocket-propelled grenades. The Wyoming National Guard wouldn’t want to risk losing another expensive helicopter through careless mistakes. But damn. Could they put the craft on the ground already?
His hand on the release clips of his harness, T-Rex counted the seconds until the helicopter skids kissed the dirt. He unclipped his harness, shucked his headset and jumped to the ground.
“T-Rex.” Garner was right behind him with a hand on his arm. “You can’t go charging in without assessing the situation and coming up with a plan.”
“We can’t wait until they start shooting the hostages.”
“We have at least ten minutes before that happens. Ten minutes to get in and rescue them.” Garner’s hand tightened on T-Rex’s arm. “We don’t want to make them nervous and start shooting hostages sooner.”
T-Rex drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Garner was right. “I won’t let them kill Sierra.”
“Or the vice president,” Ghost added. “We don’t want any of those people shot. We need to study the situation and come up with a plan.”
His teeth grinding together, his jaw tight, T-Rex nodded. His teammates were right. “Time’s running out. Let’s get somewhere we can see what’s going on.”
The team grabbed the rifles Garner had packed into the duffel bag, checked the full magazines and slipped into the protective vests Garner had included. The rifles were equipped with silencers, which would come in handy if they wanted to take out certain bad guys and not alert the others. They were also given radio headsets for communication among the team members.
Meanwhile, Garner coordinated with the law enforcement team currently positioned in the parking lot. He informed them they would be swinging around from the side and to hold their fire.
“I’m having the law enforcement crew clear the parking lot. The helicopter pilot will move closer, providing a distraction while we move in from behind.”
The team moved through the trees surrounding the visitors center on two sides. When they were close enough, T-Rex took the lead and crossed to one of the outer buildings separate from the larger main building.
“There’s a man in the prone position on each corner of this end of the building.”
“Can you sneak up on them?”
T-Rex studied all angles. He’d have to cross an area that would leave him exposed and alert the guards. He wouldn’t make it without being seen. “I don’t think so. If I step out now, they’ll see me and open fire.”
“That will alert the rest of them, and they might start shooting prisoners,” Ghost said.
At that moment, three bison wandered past close to his position, heading toward the main building.
“Wait,” T-Rex said. “I have an idea.” He slipped the sling of his weapon over his shoulder and waited until the second bison was within five feet of him. Then he ran to get on the opposite side of the animal, hunkered low and walked with the big beast to the edge of the building, past the enemy guard on the corner. Once past the man, he left the bison and ran for the side of the building, hugging the shadows.
“Be ready,” he whispered into his mic. He slipped his knife from the scabbard on his belt and crept up behind the man on the corner. He was almost on him when another bison loped out in front of the guard, capturing the man’s attention.
T-Rex grabbed the guard by his boots, yanked him backward, out of sight of his counterpart, and slammed his head into the side of the building. The man fell limp to the ground.
T-Rex removed the bolt from his weapon and tied the guard’s wrists with his own belt. Then he shoved the man’s ski mask into his mouth. He didn’t have much time.
A door on the side of the building gave him hope, until he tried it. It was locked. He shoved his knife between the door and the frame and jiggled it. He’d never unlocked a door like this before, but now would be the time to figure it out, since he was fresh out of hairpins or nail files.
He held his breath and jiggled the knife again. The lock sprang free, and the door swung open into a storage area stacked with boxes. Based on what Garner had briefed, the theater was on the end of the building he had entered. If he could get past the men on the inside, he might be able to sneak the prisoners out through one of the side doors. “I’m inside.”
“The helicopter is on its way over. Ghost is making his move on the other guard.”
“I can’t wait. He can come through the door I left open. I’m going to check out the inside situation.”
“Don’t do anything rash until we’re all inside,” warned Garner.
T-Rex ignored Garner. He’d do what he had to in order to save Sierra. Glancing at his watch, he’d used five of the ten minutes he was working with. He inched his way through the storeroom to the door he presumed would lead into the bookstore or a hallway. He turned the knob and eased the door open toward him.
A man stood on the other side with his back to T-Rex.
T-Rex could see the lobby to the right. In his narrow view through the door, he counted four men armed with AR-15s standing to the sides out of range of potential snipers, all staring out toward the parking lot. The thumping of rotors could be heard as the helicopter hovered in the parking lot, making a slow landing to buy the team more distraction time.
T-Rex couldn’t see anything to the left. He’d have to take a chance there weren’t any other men close to the guy in front of him.
“I’m right behind you,” Ghost whispered into his headset. “Invite the man in.”
T-Rex reached out, slid his knife through the man’s jugular, wrapped his arm around him and yanked him into the storeroom.
Ghost was there to close the door behind him.
They waited for the call to go out to the others. When none did, T-Rex opened the door again.
Their attention still on the helicopter, the four in the lobby talked quietly among themselves.
“There’s the helicopter.” A tall man with a solid black ski mask watched as the helicopter hovered over the parking lot. “Where the hell’re the news people?” one of them said.
“At this point, I don’t care,” said a man in a camouflage ski mask. “I just want to be on that helicopter and on my way to the border.”
“Shut up!” The black ski mask guy shook his rifle at his teammate. “We aren’t going until we get our message across. This is a call to arms to the people of this country. Or did you forget?”
“I don’t see anyone else joining our team,” said the man with the camouflage ski mask. “It’s too damned hot to be wearing all of this crap.”
“It’s been thirteen minutes and we still don’t have a news crew.” Black ski mask man jerked his head toward the camouflage man. “Bring one of the women out. We need to show them we mean business.”
The camouflage man turned toward T-Rex and hurried past to the theater. The other three men in the lobby redirected their attention to what was happening in the parking lot.
“There’s a news van pulling in now,” another man said.
“They better be connected with the national news, or we’re not dealing,” black ski mask guy said.
“Going to the theater,” T-Rex said softly into his mic.
“The gang is almost to the building. We’ll follow,” Ghost said.
T-Rex stepped out of the room and tiptoed after the camouflage masked man, praying he wouldn’t start a chain reaction that would get all of the hostages killed.
* * *
“I DON’T KNOW how you did it.” Brenda hugged Sierra. “I almost cried when they let the children go.”
Clay had managed to convince their captors to release the children and two of the mothers, who escorted the kids out of the building. That left four women, one park ranger and the two politicians. They kept them separated on opposite sides of the theater. Clay was in charge of Sierra and the women, while a more volatile man had his weapon trained on the vice president, Ranger Jared and Grady Morris.
“Poor Stevie and Gemma.” Sierra’s heart squeezed in her chest. “They didn’t want to leave without their mothers.”
“Yeah, but they’re safe now.”
“We hope.” Sierra didn’t know what had happened to them once the children left the theater. Clay had told them the children would be released unharmed.
In the meantime, she and the others were being held until the Free America group got what they wanted. What that was, Sierra didn’t know.
After the children had been released, Clay stood for a moment talking to another member of the terrorist group. When that man left the theater, Clay walked down to where the women sat. He grabbed Sierra by the arm and yanked her to her feet, pulling her away from the other women. “I got your damned kids released, it’s time you came with me.” He dragged her toward the exit.
Sierra dug in her heals. “I’m not leaving until the others are released.”
“You sure as hell are.” His hold tightened on her arm. “You promised you’d come without argument if the brats were let loose.” He shoved her up against the wall and pressed the rifle barrel against her throat.
Sierra didn’t flinch, though the cool metal wedged against her neck made it difficult to breathe. “You heard me. Not until the others are released.”
He sneered down at her, his face turning a mottle red. “So much for your word being good.”
She snorted. “I learned from the best of liars.”
He backhanded her so hard, her head snapped back and hit the wall. Sierra’s ears rang and she saw stars, but she refused to pass out. “Besides, you can’t just walk out of this now. This place has to surrounded by every law enforcement agency in the tristate area.”
“I’ll get you out. And we’ll go far away from this hellhole.”
She faced him, her jaw tight, her fists clenched by her side. “I’m not going with you.”
For a long moment, Clay pressed the rifle barrel into her throat, his nostrils flaring. “Fine. You’ll die with the rest of them.” He shoved her toward the others so hard she fell to her knees.
Then he stood back and aimed his rifle at the four women, his eyes narrowed.
Sierra stood, squared her shoulders and joined the other women.
A moan came from the upper end of the theater.
Grady sat in a theater seat, rocking back and forth. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” he muttered. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
“Shut up, Morris.” The bad-tempered terrorist at the top of the theater hit Morris in the side of his head with the butt of his weapon.
Morris fell out of his seat onto the floor and curled into the fetal position, rocking and sobbing. “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”
“Hey.” Bad-Tempered Guard got Clay’s attention. “I gotta piss. When are we supposed to be replaced?”
“Hell if I know,” Clay responded.
“I can’t wait.” Bad-Tempered Guard waved his rifle at the men. “Watch these three.”
“Send someone else in,” Clay said. “This is a lot of people for one guy to cover.”
“So, you figured that out, did you? You didn’t seem to think so when you left me alone a while ago.” Bad-Tempered Guard snorted. “Seriously, shoot them if they look at you cross-eyed.”
“Much as I’d like to do that, we can’t,” Clay said. “They’re our tickets out of here. Without them, we’re dead.”
“We’re dead anyway. You might as well take some of them with you.” Bad-Tempered Guard left the theater.
Ellis moved to a more strategic position near their prize catch, the vice president. Then he alternated watching the three men at the top of the theater and the women down in front by the stage.
Sierra figured Clay couldn’t keep a close eye on all of them all of the time, and she assumed the primary hostage was the vice president. He’d be more concerned about keeping the vice president from making an escape than a bunch of women.
“How long are you going to keep us here?” the vice president asked.
Clay turned his head to study the vice president and the congressional candidate. “As long as it takes to get what we came for.”
Taking her chance while Clay’s attention was diverted, Sierra inched toward the stage where Ranger Jared had set out a display of the various types of rock that could be found in Yellowstone National Park. She selected two particularly heavy and dense rocks the size of her palm and hid them behind her back. The stun gun would have been better, but it was in her purse halfway up the theater on the floor somewhere. She couldn’t risk going after it now. Clay might figure out that was what she was getting from her purse, since she’d used it on him before.
She moved back in place before Clay shifted his attention back to her. She caught his glance and let her gaze drop first. Let him think he had her cowed and she wouldn’t fight back. They needed all the advantages they could get. If they were going to make a move, it had to be before Bad-Tempered Guard returned. Sierra didn’t want to test his commitment to killing all of them if anything went south on their operation.
The next time Clay glanced away, Sierra handed Brenda one of the rocks.
Clay looked back again, his eyes narrowing. He stared long and hard at Sierra.
“Kind of hard to keep an eye on two groups, don’t you think?” she asked.
He glared at her. “I have it covered.”
“Would it be easier if we moved up to the others?”
“I’ll tell you what would be easier.” His lip pulled back in an ugly snarl. “You keeping your mouth shut.”
Sierra held up a hand. “Hey, I don’t want to get shot any more than anyone else. If that means making it easier on you, so be it.”
Clay chewed on her words for a moment and then nodded. “You four women, move up here.”
Sierra hustled the women up to where the men sat at the top of the theater, grabbing another one of the big rocks from the display on the stage along the way, careful not to let Clay see what she was carrying by moving close to the other women.
Once they were with the men, Sierra slipped one of the rocks into Ranger Jared’s hand. Then with the other one gripped firmly, she edged her way over to Clay. “I’ve been thinking.”
Clay glared at her. “I don’t care what you think. You lied to me.”
“That’s what I was thinking about. I guess I was mad and wanted to get back at you for all the nasty, mean and horrible things you’ve done to me in the past.”
“Where are you going with this? Because it’s not convincing me I shouldn’t shoot you.”
“I don’t want to die today. If it means leaving with you. I guess it’s the only choice I have.”
“Sorry, you had your chance. Now you’re just one of the hostages.” He jerked his head toward the others. “Get back with everyone else.”
Sierra ignored his order and moved closer. If they wanted to get out of there, they had seconds to do it before Bad-Tempered Guard returned. “Clay, remember when we were kids and slipped beneath the bleachers to make out?”
“Where are you going with this, Sierra?” He pointed the barrel of the AR-15 rifle at her chest. “Get back with the others before I have to shoot you.”
Sierra touched the tip of the barrel and pushed it gently to the side. “Don’t you wish we could be that young and carefree again with our whole lives ahead and nothing to stop us?” She inched closer.
“There’s no going back. You never loved me. I knew that the day we married.”
She must have known it, too, but she shook her head. “We had it good for a while. We can do it again. If we try.” Finally close enough to press her body against his, she wrapped one of her arms around his neck and leaned her breasts against his chest. Inside, she wanted to vomit. But on the outside, she hid her revulsion, thinking about the others in the room whose lives depended on her convincing Clay she still loved him and they had a chance at a life together. Which they didn’t. No way in hell.
“Let’s you and me get out of here. We’ll start over.” She kissed his chin and trailed her lips to his. “Let’s leave now.”
He crushed his mouth down on hers and dragged her body hard against his with his free hand.
Sierra raised her arm as if she would wrap it around his neck with the other. That was when she slammed the big rock to his temple, hitting him at the corner of his brow. Blood ran out of the gash into his eye.
Clay yelled and shoved her away, clamping a hand over the gash.
Before Clay could raise his weapon to fire, Sierra shoved the heel of her palm upward, catching Clay’s nose, breaking it with a sickening crunch.
Since he was still standing and in the way of her freedom, Sierra kneed him in the groin. When he bent double, she slammed his head against her knee. “That’s for all the times you hit me and I didn’t know how to defend myself.”
He fell to the floor. Out cold.
Sierra turned to the others. “Hurry! Let’s get out of here.” She headed to the other door at the top of the theater. The one opposite from the one Bad-Tempered Guard had gone through, and hopefully farther away from the men in the lobby.
Sierra was first to the door. She pushed it open enough to see into the lobby. Men in ski masks were shouting. She couldn’t tell if they were shouting at each other or someone else. Sierra didn’t care.
She pointed to a potted plant in the hallway away from the theater. Turning to Brenda, she said, “Make it to the plant first. Watch them. When they aren’t looking, head for the exit at the end of the hallway.”
The men were so busy yelling at each other, they weren’t watching the theater.
Sierra touched Brenda’s shoulder. “Go. I’ll send the others. Help them get out.”
Brenda nodded and ran for the potted plant.
Her breath caught in her throat, Sierra held it until her friend made it to the plant and then the end of the hallway and out the door.
She pointed to the vice president. “You’re next, sir.”
He shook his head. “Ladies first. Get them safe.” He urged one of the mothers forward.
She shrank back, shaking her head. “I can’t.”
“Then come with me.” The other mother grabbed her hand and dragged her through the door and down the hallway.
Once the two mothers were gone, the vice president touched her shoulder. “You’re next.”
She stood fast. “I’m last out. Go, Mr. Vice President. You’re the big fish they have to negotiate with. If they don’t have you, they don’t have their bargaining chip.”
“I insist,” the vice president said. “Please, don’t hesitate. The sooner you’re out, the sooner the rest of us will go.”
Grady Morris erupted from the floor. “Out. I need out.” He ran to the door and out into the hallway without looking first.
A shout sounded behind Sierra. Bad-Tempered Guard ran into the theater from the other door. “Damn it! What the hell’s going on?”
“Go!” Sierra shoved Ranger Jared toward the door.
Jared ran down the hallway, not bothering to hide behind the potted plant.
The vice president refused to budge when Sierra tried to push him through the door. Instead, he stepped between her and Bad-Tempered Guard, blocking any bullets that might be aimed her way. “Go.” He shoved her out the door and turned toward Bad-Tempered Guard. “Don’t shoot!”
Sierra had two choices: run or be shot.
She ran.
Footsteps sounded behind her, and gunfire echoed off the high ceilings.
“Stop, or I’ll shoot,” a voice shouted.
Sierra wasn’t stopping. She was halfway to the outside door. She couldn’t slow her momentum, even if she’d wanted to.
Another shot was fired.
Pain blasted through her calf and sent her falling flat on her face. Her head hit the floor, rattling her brain, making her vision blur.
More shouts sounded in the lobby. Men scurried, more shots were fired.
Sierra pushed to her knees and tried to stand, but pain ripped up her leg and made her fall back to the ground.
An arm reached around her and pulled her off the floor and locked her against a tense body. Her captor spun with her, facing the melee, and shouted, “Try anything, and I’ll kill her!”
Pain knifed through her leg, pushing fuzzy gray fog around her vision, but Sierra refused to pass out. Her vision cleared just enough to realize the men in ski masks lay littered across the lobby floor. Law enforcement personnel poured into the building, weapons drawn, ready to shoot anything that moved. In the middle of them stood a tall, dark, auburn-haired marine with wide hazel eyes.
T-Rex. And he looked scared.