Hunter moved her free hand to her pocket, then realized the arrowhead was in the other pocket, the one she couldn’t reach while seated and handcuffed to Adan. She whispered, “arrowhead.”
Adan looked at her, then understood. He used his free hand and fished it out of her jeans, then held it hidden in his hands. She moved her free hand to where he could give the point to her without Factor seeing them, then both sat back. Both were silent as he drove, but Hunter’s mind was on Raymond. She knew he was probably dead, but she couldn’t imagine him deceased. Her heart thudded with heavy beats, and each one pulsed out a bit more blood from her side, even though Adan pushed strongly on it.
They passed through Terlingua, with Factor saying, “You try anything funny going through town, I shoot the kid in the face.”
“We’re not trying anything.”
He drove on towards Lajitas, and as they passed by the golf course, Hunter whispered to Adan, “Be ready to swim.”
Factor drove down to Comanche Creek, where it joined the Rio Grande and had deposited a long, wide sand bar that pushed toward the Mexico side of the river. Across the water were several men standing high on the bank, watching. One of them waved at John Factor.
He pointed the vehicle into the creek bed and on toward the water, and when he was ten feet into the water and concentrating on where to drive, Hunter moved.
Her free arm came up and over the backrest, and she held the small flint projectile point tightly between her thumb and index finger so that one-inch of the blade’s edge extended beyond the length of her thumb. Flint was many times sharper than a surgeon’s scalpel, and she hit and raked the blade across the side of Factor’s neck to sever the artery and shoot a small geyser of red into the vehicle. He reached for her hand, but she moved it and shoved the blade again to his neck, this time cutting the other side and half-through the windpipe.
He gurgled and spat crimson onto the windshield as Hunter pulled against the hand gripping her forearm. Adan jumped up to reach into the front seat and grab the silenced pistol. He brought it back with him, holding it tight.
She pushed open the door and pulled on Adan, moving them both into the water, where they floated downstream.
Shouts came from the men on the far bank, and a shot spurted a fountain of water into the sky as Adan handed her the pistol. She brought it up–and froze.
Ellis had an AR-15 pointed at Adan, his eyes on the sights, lining up the shot.
Hunter touched the bottom with her toes and said, “don’t shoot, here it is.” She threw the pistol to the bank, where it landed at RL’s feet.
Ellis said, “Get your asses over here, or I start shooting.”
Hunter helped keep Adan’s head above water as they pushed and swam through the jade-colored river, until both could stand.
Ellis came down the bank and said, “You screwed the pooch on this one, Kincaid.”
She looked at the green water flowing around them, and at the flowing red ribbons in it, courtesy of John Factor, still in the half-floating pickup. She said, “Give me back that pistol and let’s try again.”
He lowered the rifle and as her eyes followed the weapon, hit her flush on the mouth with a hard right that dropped Hunter to her knees. “Say something else, smart ass.” He looked at Adan, “Kid, drag her ass up to the car and get in. Now.”
Hunter staggered to her feet as her split upper lip swelled and blood dribbled down the front of her shirt. Adan pulled her arm across his shoulders and started up the trail on the slick river bank as bad men waited above for them.
RL waited for them, but he didn’t look happy about it. When he saw Hunter’s lip, he took out his handkerchief and held it out to her, “Its clean, I put it in my pocket this morning.”
Sh
e took the cloth and held it to her lip, putting enough pressure to make it sting and her eyes water. They ushered her and Adan into a pale green Land Cruiser with oversized tires, and one of the men shoved them into the rear seat. He said, “Don’t say a goddamn word,” and shut the door. He said, “Now we have to drive for a whole damn day to get from here to there.”
Ellis stepped beside him and said in a soft voice, “We can leave you here.”
“No, that’s all right. I was just grumbling is all.” The whites of his eyes showed as he looked at Ellis.
Ellis said to RL, “We’ll meet you in La Linda. We’re going to Del Rio and across, then down from the east side. We’ll pick up some food and drinks. Flavio wants to cook while we’re in the ghost town, says the wood in that area seasons the meat better, or some such shit.” He turned his eyes to Hunter, “You two, take your pants off, and your shoes and socks.”
Hunter looked at him, and he said, “We’re not gonna rape you, but it should stop you from escaping and running through the brush. You try that, you’ll be cut to shreds in no time. Now, get them off.”
Hunter nodded at Adan, and both did as they were told, with Hunter handing the clothes and shoes to Ellis. His eyes lingered on Hunter’s legs as he took them. He left after one last look, taking the clothes and shoes.
RL wasn’t looking forward to twelve or thirteen hours of driving over rough roads and through rough country, but he wasn’t about to argue. He said, “See you there.”
RL got in the Green vehicle, with another armed man in the passenger’s seat to guard the prisoners. RL said to Hunter and Adan, “Don’t give us any trouble, okay?”
Hunter nodded, mumbling through the cloth she held on her lip, “No trouble.”