Ike motioned for Hunter to come to the front of the group, and he seemed urgent about it.
She moved in a low crouch through the short brush, using
the sage and cedar and cactus for cover between her and the people hunting them. When she reached Ike, he seemed excited.
“What is it?” Hunter said.
“Peek over the hill and tell me what you see.”
She did. A Lincoln Continental made its careful way down the rough ranch road, coming their way. She looked at Ike, “Who?”
“That’s Ramona. I recognize her car.”
“What the heck is she doing here? How did she find us?”
“She tracked my phone, like people track their kid’s phones.”
“Did you know she was coming?”
“My, we have a plethora of questions, don’t we?”
Hunter grinned, “I’ve always been curious. Now, what’s the deal?”
“I think she wanted to help, not stand by and watch. It’s her only daughter, that’s what she’s worried about and that’s why she’s here hunting for us.”
Hunter looked at the Lincoln, “Can we all fit in there?”
“I think so, enough to get us to safety.”
“You lead, I’ll cover our back.”
Ike nodded. He stayed low in the brush and angled to intercept the big car before it came too close to the barn and Suretta spotted it.
Hunter made her way to the kids, where Kelly and Consuela fussed over Anita to keep her calm. She said, “We’ve got some help right ahead. It’ll be tight, but we can do it, then we can get out of here and you can go home, okay?”
They all nodded, eager to leave.
Ike caught Ramona’s attention and she stopped the car. He held out his hands in a wait there motion, then returned to Hunter and the children. He led them through the brush and cactus, angling off the low hill, coming down at an angle to a shallow ravine that opened in front of the Lincoln as it crept along the rough road across the pasture. He carried Anita after she stumbled and said she was tired.
When the children came running from the cedars toward her, Ramona couldn’t believe it, and Ike held Anita in the crook of his arm as they walked out from the brush. Ramona broke into tears and pushed open her door, running to them as Ike handed Anita to her mother, who smothered the child with kisses.
The other children crowded around Ramona and Ike as if they couldn’t get close enough. When Hunter emerged from the brush, she and Ramona locked eyes and both nodded. Ramona silently mouthed, I owe you.
Ike and Ramona hustled the children inside the Lincoln, rearranging them like sardines. They had eight inside, with only Kelly and Consuela remaining.
Consuela felt elated, they were escaping! She said to Kelly as she hugged her again before stepping closer to the open door, “We’re going to be best friends. We will meet every day and listen to music and watch movies. You will be like my sister.”
Kelly’s smile was like sunrise. It was like a great weight lifted off her heart. “I want to, and we’ll never be apart again!”
Suretta suddenly appeared in the road thirty yards in front of them and fired her pistol.
Consuela cried out and collapsed. Kelly and Ike reached down for her, but already the blood on her chest seemed so large that Kelly felt sick.
Chapter 14
Suretta waited a beat, checking the results of her shot, and looking at Consuela on the ground, then she opened up with the Glock, spraying rounds at the car and the people standing by it. Bullets rang off the fenders and spider-webbed the front glass, with others hitting the open doors with a sound like striking hammers on metal.
Hunter moved away from the car and pulled the pistol she’d taken from Carl just as other armed people joined Suretta. They hesitated, unsure if they were to shoot their cargo, until Suretta said, “Kill them.”